


White Flame

by kitaychan



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Human, Blood, F/M, M/M, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Psychological Horror, Royalty, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, sort of medieval AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:29:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 40,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24546178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitaychan/pseuds/kitaychan
Summary: As their two Kingdoms get closer to a war, the past keeps on hovering around their choices. Prince Ivan has a hard time controlling his magical powers while being tormented by a mysterious ghost and Prince Alfred embarcs in seeking a revenge that might cost more than it’s worth it.
Relationships: China/Russia (Hetalia), Lithuania/Poland (Hetalia)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 28





	1. A gray wolf

The wintry forest is silent, a white blanket of snow covers the floor, if it weren’t for the trees Ivan would swear that the horizon is nonexistent. A caravan of knights follows him, well, not him, they follow his father lead, Ivan just happens to be alongside his father in the same horse. His face is numb, his fingers are almost blue, sending prickles of pain, like needles into his bones but he cannot let his father know, he’ll think that Ivan is weak and weakness is what his father despises the most. 

Ivan’s icy nightmare is ended when one of the knights notices him and takes pity. “Your majesty, I think you should cover the child.” The young knight says, his voice unwary as it normally is when any of them addresses their king.

“If you care so much about him, why don’t you take him?” 

The king’s response makes the other knight’s share an uneasy glance. The young knight searches for some clue in his comrades faces but gets none. The only eyes meeting him are those purple eyes that imprint fear in them. 

Ivan flinched when his father spoke again, the command is harsh. “Come here.” 

The young knight moves his horse closer, Ivan can see the fear in his blue eyes and he feels pity for him. 

Ivan glanced up at his father, his face stoic as it usually is, he lifts him without ease and the young knight receives him with delicacy, placing him in the horse with him. Strangely, just by this little change, the sensation of warmth spreads into Ivan’s body, contempt and relieve show themselves in the boy’s face. When Ivan meets his father’s eyes, he shrinks, trying to conceal the emotions in his face and trembling slightly.

The commanding rough voice of the king is heard again. “You are his nanny from now on.” The white horse of the king resumes his steps, the knights share another glance before they start laughing. 

Ivan feels bad for the young knight, taking the king’s offences silently and submissively, he can relate to what the man must be going through right now, the anger, the frustration. The boy looks up at the knight and gives him a small smile, the young man returns the smile and ruffles the boy’s hair.

The rest of the trip is comfy, at least for the prince, enveloped in a coat, eating the candies that another knight gave him and making questions out of curiosity. Ivan feels at ease with the knights, they don’t scold him, they don’t look at him disapprovingly and most importantly, he isn’t freezing. 

They talk to him in whispers and short sentences, they don’t want to enrage their king. He didn’t explicitly say that they couldn’t interact with the kid, but he didn’t approve of it either. 

In this Kingdom, caution is their shield and sagacity their sword. Although with such King, nothing is guaranteed, the knights just as any other human being, are overtaken by curiosity, and the child provides them with small entertainment; asking silly questions, smiling happily and giggling. 

When Ivan laughs a bit too loud, the white horse stops and turning back to the knights the king huffs. “That kid is spoiled and you keep on making it worse.”

The knights answer in unison. “Apologies, your majesty.”

The king’s gaze is piercing the child, addressing the young knight he orders. “Put him down, he’ll walk from here.”

The blue-eyed knight looks down at Ivan. “Excuse me, your majesty, but I think I heard wrong.”

“Put him down without the coat.”

The knight obeys, giving the boy an apologetic look. Ivan’s skin meets the chilly wind and he trembles. The king orders the Knights to go ahead while he stays back with the child.

Ivan trudges silently behind his father until his feet go numb and his vision gets blurry. Incapable of moving his extremities, his legs give up and the child falls into the snow. 

The next thing Ivan notices is that he is being carried in a horse again, he looks up to see his father’s face, he seems to be musing about something, if Ivan didn’t know him better, he would think that his expression is remorseful, but it cannot be, his father never feels guilt, a king cannot feel guilty. Ivan pretends to be asleep again. 

When the horse stops his father shakes him, Ivan stirs, to the child’s amazement his father doesn’t put him on the ground, carrying him in his arms instead. Ivan looks at him with wide eyes, the king smiles softly. “I know you are only eight Ivan but you have to learn.” His father takes a clock out of his pocket and presents it to him. 

Ivan looked at the clock hesitantly, it was shiny and it had a snowflake engraved in it. “If you pass the test, this clock will be yours, it belonged to your grandfather.” Said the king.

The boy reached out to touch it but refrained from it, words coming out of his mouth before he could stop them. “Is this what made grandpa crazy?”

His father frowned, retrieving the clock in his pocket again. “Do you see that forest?”

Ivan looked in the direction his father pointed. The forest seemed grim, full of tall trees covered in snow. The boy nodded slowly.

The king put him down. “You have to go there, and find a trophy.”

Ivan stared back at the knights, they were setting up a campsite, ignoring him. His father gave him a bow, arrows and a small knife. “That forest it’s full of small animals, I suppose you can catch a rabbit at the very least. My request is for you to come back with something but if you dare to bring back a branch I will punish you with my own hands again.”

Ivan nodded, he had no choice anyways. 

His father patted him on the back. “You have until dawn.”

The boy glanced at the forest wearily and back at his father again.

The king sighed and called the young blue-eyed knight. “Go with him, make sure he doesn’t kill himself but do not help him with his task.”

The knight nodded and headed to the forest with the boy. Once they were out of the King’s sight, Ivan whimpered. Sobs turned into wails as he couldn’t found comfort in the knight’s words, telling him that he would catch something. It was futile, he had never used a bow, he couldn’t feel his fingers and they hadn’t seen any animal in there, not even birds. 

Obviously frustrated, the knight scolded him. “If you don’t stop crying, the king will come and we’ll both get in trouble.” The knight was looking down at him, his eyebrows knitted together. 

Ivan flinched at the tone the blue-eyed man used and stopped his crying. Behind him a silvery voice whispered. “Are you going to let him treat you that way?”

The boy looked back, fearful, finding no one. “I heard something.” The boy whimpered.

The knight shook his head. “You have to be quiet if you want to catch something, the animals won’t get near if you keep whining.”

Ivan could hear the voice again. “You are a prince and he is talking to you like that?”

The boy tried to raise his shaky voice, looking around. “Who’s there?”

The knight kept silent, looking intently at the boy with a confused expression. 

“He thinks you are either a fool or crazy” the strange voice was heard again.

Ivan searched around the nearest tree, circling it. Nothing. He glanced back at the knight and saw another man standing beside him, the stranger was tall, dressed in what seemed to be an antique military attire, he had a silver helmet with the same snowflake engraving that his father's clock had.

With a grin the stranger asked. “Why don’t you shoot him?”

The boy trembled, what kind of suggestion was that? He shook his head, the stranger's face seemed distrustful to him, the paleness, the wrinkles it had made it look grim, threatening.

The man pointed at his sword, Ivan saw the stranger's hands coated in blood. “You can’t? well, I have to fulfill my duties with the royals. I’ll kill him with my sword, your majesty.”

The young Knight's voice made Ivan flinch again “Kid, are you alright?”

The prince pointed at the stranger, stammering."That man.. he is… he is telling me-"

The knight glanced back and shook his head. "There is no one there, calm down."

Ivan could see the grim figure drawing out his sword, it was old, rusty, full of dark red splotches.

The boy's voice grew louder, frantic. "He is right there. He has sword, he is going to kill you!!"

The blue-eyed knight dismissed with his hand. "There is no one in there. Breathe, you are desillusional." 

The stranger huffed, his eyes were blue, bluer than the Knight's. “See? He thinks you are crazy. He has to be punished.”

Ivan whailed, unable to understand. "No!"

The pale figure smiled again, pointing at the knight with the sword, he warned. "If you don’t shoot him, I will kill him."

Ivan desperately pondered the idea, the knight didn’t believe him and that other man was threatening. This was the test his father mentioned, right? A test, he had to… to think, what could be the correct answer to this, like in a riddle. 

The man with the sword didn’t say Ivan had to kill the knight, only shoot him. He wasn’t good with the arrow, so he wouldn’t hit anything vital, right? Just avoid the head and the left side of the chest, he could try hitting him on the right, the knight had his armor anyways.

Ivan drew his bow, taking an arrow and pointing it at the knight. 

The blue-eyed knight gave some steps back. “Very funny, young prince.”

Ivan´s hands trembled and he felt a searing pain in his fingers, coldness spreading in his bones. He tried to aim as precise as he could, he didn’t trust himself enough to hit his chest but he doubted he would hurt him. The boy exhaled slowly and let the arrow follow his course.

The Arrow did hit the knight lamely on the chest, falling to the grown. Ivan felt relieved.

“Where you going to present me as your trophy?” The young knight jokes, picking up the arrow.

Ivan laughed too, the other man’s figure had disappeared, he had passed the test unharmed. 

The prince’s joy soon turned into fear when he heard an ear-wrenching scream, the knight was engulfed in bright white flames, his face contorting in a horrible grimace. 

Ivan drew near, not knowing what to do, he tried to shove some snow into the screaming knight frantically.

When the screams ceased, Ivan couldn’t stand to look at the burnt body in front of him. The smell made him feel nauseous.

The same silvery voice broke the silence. “Look at what you did. It would have been less painful if you had let me kill him.” 

Ivan shook his head and closed his eyes, he didn't want any of this.

The stranger spoke again, reproaching. “Your father won’t like this. He will punish you. What kind of prince kills his own knights?”

The boy felt tears gathering in his eyes. “It’s not my fault. I didn’t know-”

“You picked the wrong answer.” the pale figure said.

“But-”

The stranger looked at him dissatisfied. “Your father chose to let me do the job when he was here. Your grandfather did so too. Kings don't get their hands dirty.”

Ivan couldn’t help but cry, his sobs escaping him uncontrollably.

The boy felt a cold hand caressing his head. “It breaks my heart to see a child cry. I can help you.”

The young prince looked up, pleading. “You’ll bring him back?”

The stranger laughed, the chuckles were thunderous. “That my dear, is impossible, even I have some limits, bringing back the dead or imparting life is beyond my powers. But I can help you cover this mess.” 

“How?”

The man pointed at the burnt corpse. “What animal do you want him to be?”

Ivan stared back, wide eyed. "What?"

"I’ll turn him into an animal and you can come back to your father."

The boy stayed silent, feeling guilty for the Knight's destiny, being turned into an animal to be mounted on the wall or just being thrown away to rot seemed so wrong. He hadn't done anything wrong, he had been kind, honest and he was doing his job.

Noticing the child's undecided expression the pale figure suggested. “I think a wolf should be appropriate. Tell the others that he abandoned you, out of fear. They’ll believe you. He was the youngest, the new one.”

Ivan nodded, not knowing what else to do. He was petrified, observing the corpse turning into a gray wolf, the animal's fur was beautiful, the boy felt the urge to touch it.

He reached his hand, delicately running his fingers through the animal. The icy voice spoke again. “You have to stab him with another arrow, perhaps with the knife too.” 

With trembling hands, Ivan complied, the arrow piercing the animal's skin forcefully, scarlet liquid dripping from the wound. Coating his numb fingers, staining his sleeves.

Silent tears running down the boy's cheeks.

He took out the small knife and cut through the wolf's throat, more blood coming out, the warm liquid touching his hands before spreading in the snow.

When he was finished, the figure ruffled his hair, sending chills through his bones, Ivan could swear he felt his heart stop and the blood in his veins freeze. 

He heard the crunching of snow and some shouting, looking back at the figure he noticed it was no longer there. He heard his father’s voice, calling his name.

When the king was visible, Ivan looked down at the bloodied wolf beside him, at his hands coated in the red liquid, it was the only warmth he felt. 

His father drew near, stopping to observe the scene. Giving Ivan an approving nod and ordering the knights to take back the wolf.

After the boy washed his hands, the warmth in his fingers was lost, he felt constant prickles of pain, coldness inside his being. 

His father didn’t ask him about the young knight. No one did.

Their way back was completely silent.


	2. maybe he was just a boy

Ivan wasn’t sure of what had happened.

The luncheon had been peaceful, his mother was sitting there, preferring hot chocolate over the delicious pork that Ivan requested, she was a bit paler than normal but it wasn’t strange, these days the palace was colder, perhaps winter would come earlier. 

Katya, his sister was nibbling the dessert when his father arrived, scowling as usual and refusing to eat, offering his drink to the queen. He complained about the newly acquired mage saying he was “fooling around instead of doing his work”. Ivan felt bad for the poor man, he remembered his father brought him along in the last trip, from a foreign land in the east. 

Ivan had tried to caught the oriental man around the palace, curiosity was killing him, he wanted to ask about the customs, the stories about dragons that he heard from the knights, but his father wouldn’t allow him to, saying that the man was unwilling to share the secrets of their magic. Ivan didn’t blame him, if he had a choice, he wouldn’t share his magic with his father either. 

The king reminded the boy about their practice the next day, as if he was reading Ivan’s thoughts, he underlined the importance of it as well as the obligatory nature of the task. Ivan wasn’t keen of their shared lectures, his father was always scolding him, calling him weak and lazy. It wasn’t his fault that the spells did not work, though, his unwillingness to utter them or cast them among defendless servants might have something to do with it. 

The day had been so boring that he didn't remember much of it, just that he had to dinner alone while some servants walked around hurriedly.

When he lay in bed waiting for his mother to kiss him goodnight, he could distinguish the sound of a clock, marking each second, the sound was distant, echoing in the halls. 

He pondered the idea of searching the clock but refrained from it, he didn't want a punishment for being out of bed.

Ivan, waited and waited until his eyelids closed and he drifted to sleep.

His mother didn't showed up that night.

In the morning as he was sleeping soundly in his bed, glad that his father had ceased taking him on those long and horrible trips and happy that his dreams didn’t turn into the constant nightmare with the bloodied wolf, he heard his sister sobbing.

She was by his side, waiting for him to wake up. Her eyes were red, and her cheeks stained with tears. Ivan didn't know what to do, she hugged him tightly, assuring that she was going to be there for him. For what? Ivan didn't know, he only nodded as his sister kept crying and mumbling nonsenses to him.

Two days later the weight of the situation was setting in his mind. His mother was not going to greet him in the mornings anymore, she wasn’t there to wake him from his nightmares and lull him into sleep again. Though, Katya was there as she said, she was clueless, she didn’t know why the gray wolf mounted in the trophy hall was covered. She didn’t understand why Ivan dreaded the weekly practices with their father. 

Somehow, in a short span of time his father had managed to look even more menacing, whenever he casted his glance at him, Ivan felt as if he blamed him for his mother’s death. 

Ivan had refused to prepare for the funeral. There were relatives he didn’t know around the palace giving him pitiful glances and some of them even dared to speak to him about his mother. How could they? they’ve never showed themselves when she was alive, why should he listen to them now? 

When the third unknown relative approached him at the table, Ivan left behind his untouched meal and ran directly to his room. Kicking off his shoes and tossing the black coat they had made him wear.

After some minutes his father and Katya entered in his room. His sister proceeded to silently dress him back. 

“You’ll go downstairs, greet everyone and stay until they go to sleep.” The glare his father gave him was enough for Ivan to understand he shouldn't talk back.

Katya’s voice was soft. “Father, perhaps we should let him rest. Vaneshka hasn’t slept very well as of lately.”

“I didn’t ask your opinion, Yekaterina. Go and greet the guests.” The harshness of his voice made the siblings flinch.

While Ivan observed the way she was hurriedly tying his shoes, the thought that had been haunting him since he got the news from his mother’s death assaulted him once again. 

Even when his sister promised to be there for him, which was precisely what she was doing. She had only a bit of influence in the palace. 

Katya could not protect him from their father. 

* * *

The day was sunny, the sound of the leaves rustling with the wind was all Natalya could hear, she was glancing out of the window, silent, she should be sleeping but she couldn’t, she was eager to go out of the carriage and spin around with that nice black dress her mother had prepared.

Today she was finally going to visit his cousin, her mother was always talking about him, telling her how to behave in front of him. Each year the king gifted her a portrait alongside some silk ribbons, she made sure to wear one each day. 

She hadn't seen him since he was five years old or so they said, she didn’t remember very well, but it was not her fault to be younger than him, it was a miracle she knew whom they were talking about. But it didn’t matter, she knew that he was just as charming as they had told her. After all his father always said that she deserved nothing less than a prince. Natalya imagined he had to be just like that, a prince, just like the tales her mother read to her at night.

When the time finally came, Natalya glued herself to the carriage's window, to get a glimpse of him, they would be arriving soon. She admired the city, the ornamental gate, the beautiful gardens, the entrance with the servants all dressed in black.

Stepping out of the carriage, she observed in awe at the beautiful and obviously bigger palace his cousin lived in. 

The doors were opened and she finally saw him.

He was dressed in a simple way, at least in comparison to her, who had been hours trying to look as well as possible. She greeted him and he responded shyly, hiding behind his sister. 

To Natalia, it was confusing, she was expecting him to take her hand or to bring flowers like in the fairytales but she supposed it was going to happen later, after all they were just children, he was nine years old.

After the boring ceremony held for the deceased queen, her mother sent her to speak with the prince, to cheer him up.

Natalya complied, chatting and starting a silly game of hide and seek in the gardens. She let him win, that’s what her mother instructed her to do. It would make him happy but he looked bored and was more interested in the surroundings than in the game itself. Noticing this, Natalya tried to start a conversation.

“Do you like that tree?” she asked, leaning forward and trying to peek over his shoulder. 

He pushed her back and sighed. “ No, I am looking at the bird in it.” Then he pointed at a branch in the tree. 

There was in fact a gray bird with white and black rings around the neck and a fluffy white belly. Natalia thought it was a pretty simple bird, this wasn’t the kind of conversation her mother had said he’d be interested in, instead he was just as any other boy she had talked with. Perhaps, her mother was wrong, this boy wasn’t a prince just yet, maybe he was just a boy. 

Natalya decided to act naturally and not how she had practiced, stating her opinion. “I don’t know much about animals, I think they are noisy, especially birds. Do you like birds?”

There was a small silence and Natalya shifted uncomfortably, had she done something wrong?

Her cousin smiled. “Not really,” -he shrugged- “I just think that one is cute.”

Natalya smiled back and lifted an eyebrow. “Why? Is it because it’s gray, like the wolf?”

He tensed considerably. “No...I don’t know, it’s big and fluffy, it looks like it has a beard.”

Natalia looked up at the bird again and giggled. “it does look like it has a beard.”

He sat in the grass and scoffed. “If it had a hat it would look like your father.”

Natalya frowned, was that an insult? 

“I don’t think so, it would resemblance the priest.” She said sitting beside him.

“The priest?”

She nodded. “Yes, didn't you see him?”

“He doesn't look like that.” he looked confused.

“He does, I talked with him. I asked him when I could marry” she whined putting her hands on her lap, playing with the fabric of the dress.

He just turned to look at the bird again.

She shook his shoulder “Aren’t you going to ask me when I can marry?” 

He looked at her for a moment, shaking his head. "No. My father is always saying that my sister has to marry, that he’ll pick with whom, why would you want to know when you’ll marry? If father is ordering Katya to think about that it can’t be good. You shouldn’t be excited."

She shook her head. “That’s not true. My parents say that marriage is a good thing, that it brings joy and wealth. You’ll have to marry one day too.” 

He seemed surprised as if the idea hadn’t cross his mind before. He crossed his arms and denied childishly. “I don't want to.”

Natalya laughed at his response. “Why not? I could be a nice queen and when you are the king you can get more of those birds. We will be very happy.” 

He stared at the animal and frowned. “I don't want to be a king, I want to be that bird.”

She kept laughing until his annoyed expression told her that he was talking seriously. 

She took off the ribbon that kept her hair out of her face and folded it. “You can’t, people can’t be turned into animals but you can be a King and live very happy.” 

* * *

Later that night, Natalya was sneaking to his room, she was going to give him a gift to show him her affection. She tiptoed through the corridor and opened his door slowly. The floor creaked under her tiny feet and he woke up, seeming startled to see her there. She put a finger on her lips motioning him to keep quiet. 

She gave him a box and a kiss on the cheek and left the room closing the door behind her. She was giggling, waiting for him to open it and to go out and thank her. 

What happened next was a blur to Natalya. 

A shrieking scream resounded on the halls, some doors were opened, and she heard hasty steeps getting near. 

She was pushed back and the door of his room opened. She saw him, sobbing with the bird on his hands, his eyes meeting hers for a moment. Then, he started shouting at her, she didn’t understand why, all she had done was to get that stupid bird for him and there he was speaking nonsense to her. 

She started crying, the king entered the room and he stopped his noisy cries. The hateful glace the prince gave her when he stood up made her shriek, what had she done wrong? She kept sobbing in the hall, while the prince pointed at her and accused her with the king. The icy glare of the latter stayed in her memory for years after the incident, alongside the sound of the door closing in front of her.


	3. Delayed letters

To say that everything went back to normal after the funeral would be a lie.

The mahogany table was covered in papers and a few splotches of ink, marks of the mechanical process that Yekaterina had to learn in the last two years since her father decided she had to be of use in the palace. The routine was simple, drip the tip of the pen in the ink, and lift it graciously enough to keep the black drops from touching the paper or the table, write whatever it is that you need to write and repeat when the quill runs out of ink, it seemed simple but just as her tutor used to say “theory is completely different from practice”.

In addition to that, Yekaterina discovered that her father was a petty man when it came to delivering letters. They would spend a whole day writing out a couple of those,after his father checked not only the grammar but the calgraphy, made Ivan read it out loud and clarified some terms for him, she’d get to see the sealing of the letter. It provided her a strange satisfaction, to see the wax carefully dropped on the envelope and molding itself after the royal seal. She always beamed with joy when a letter was finished, sometimes she thought she preferred the result over the whole process, after all, her father would spent half of the time teaching them and the other half arguing with Ivan about his unusual questions, she was allowed to ask as well, whether she’d get an answer or not depended on her father’s judgement, luckily for her, she always seemed to ask the right questions.

For the time being Katya was confined to keep contact with her family or any other acquaintance through letters. When her father started another conquest crusade, she was left the task of figuring how to maintain a steady diplomacy with the other kingdoms, if it wasn’t difficult enough, she had to keep contact with Natalya’s father, who would constantly argue against the King’s intentions of keeping the girl as far away from Ivan as possible. 

Yekaterina would have appeased his worries if only she could convince her brother of meeting her again but her efforts had proved to be useless; not only was Ivan stubbornly apprehensive of Natalya but he was also begrudgingly acompaining their father in his battles. 

This situation made Katya anxious, she didn’t want her dear brother to become a stoic gloomy man as their father and the more time Ivan spend with him, the more he would stray from her grasp; resembling a tired obedient soldier instead of the young and lively seventeen year old he actually was. 

The quiet voice of a brunette servant interrupted her thoughts, she saw his nervous demeanor and guilt invaded her. This boy- servant had been a prince before her father defeated them and humiliated his family this way. As guilty as she felt, there was nothing she could do about it, except for safeguarding a part of his nobility, she hoped her father didn’t remember him well enough to dismiss him from the title she gave him.

The boy, Katya thought his name was “Tolys” or something like that, presented her an envelope of letters, she shook slightly, dismissing the boy and frowned. 

Not getting a response from her father in five months made her heart clench and her head spin every time a letter arrived, fearing the worst, she always checked for the familiar seal followed by her father’s handwriting. 

The envelope in her hands was messily tied, no seal was visible and she was tempted to throw it away. She caught a glimpse of the affectionate “Katya” written unmistakably in the letters of her brother and smiled warmly, Vaneshka didn’t forget her after all.

Glancing at the messy handwriting, she could imagine her brother writing to her while admiring a foreign land, she refused to acknowledge the prickle of jealousy in her heart, while she was confined in the palace, her brother was traveling abroad, she shook her head reminding herself that he had duties to fulfil just as she did. 

Untying the envelope hurriedly, a pile of letters fell into her lap, she scattered them over the table, noticing that one was already opened, she took it to scrutinize it. 

* * *

_Dear Katya._

_I am afraid there isn’t much I can happily tell you about this situation, we thought that father was insufferable with us in the palace but that is nothing compared to what he acts in here. He has decided that I was unworthy of my title and impelled me to convive with the rest of the low soldiers in this place. That wouldn’t be so bad if only they weren’t too scared to talk with me. So, the only decent conversation I get in here is from our father and it isn’t even decent because he keeps berating everything I do. I am too weak, too stupid, too slow, too naive._

~~_Everything in this place is horrible_.~~

_I do have some good news for you, the fortress of prince Vlad has fallen alongside the defensive lines guarding his palace, after a few hours (of a totally useless resistance) they surrendered quite peacefully. I hope this brings you some joy or at least more than what it brought to me, for this new acquired land seemed to be fruitful and warmer than ours but the day after the surrender an unexpected blizzard has held us a coupe of days from advancing further. I swear that it seems the cold of our homeland reaches us anywhere we go._

_I’m sorry for complaining so much, it must be tiring for you to bear with this, though if I don’t tell you this things I might end up losing my mind just as our grandparent did. No wonder with such son, how could he stay sane? Forgive my bad joke dear sister, I’m still bitter from the matutinal training with father._

_Vanya._

* * *

A smile grew on her lips, he seemed to be as stubborn as when he left and kept his sense of humour, perhaps she was worrying over nothing. Although the crumpled letter and the delay in receiving it could only mean that someone read over it before it reached her. 

Katya opened some other letters to get more information but they were only a few sentences, varying the lines of “I’m doing well. Greetings Katya. Another victory. I’m bored.” What made her uneasy was the way he stopped signing with his pet name and changed it for a simple “Ivan”. It was obvious for her that the first letter reached their father and Ivan stopped rambling after that, he probably held the letters too. The question was why they were sent now.

Yekaterina sighed, opening the last letter, the more recent. It was lengthy, she felt a wave of uneasiness, the letter was crumpled, untidy.

* * *

_Dear Katya._

_I’m writing to you just after the battle in the so called firebird kingdom, Katya, I don’t know what to do._ ~~_Our father_ ~~

_I don’t understand what happened. We were reaching the city walls, I was right behind father and he was so unreasonable. He commanded me to siege the city, it was so strange, the battle was supposed to be by the outskirts, the city was full of civilians as usual._ ~~_Sister, have I just killed innocents for following his orders or is it purely my fault?_ ~~

_The little regiments sent to fight back were defeated easily and the city was sieged. A week passed and the enemy didn’t surrendered. Father said it was a matter of time. He said it was about wearing the enemy’s will and that the people itself would press them to surrender. Hunger is not something one can ignore easily._

_The weather was worsening each day, it was getting colder and in a matter of a night the ground was covered in snow._ _~~why must I always be so cold?~~ _ _We had to set up an improvised campfire, throughout the day the sunlight wasn’t enough to warm us. At night, father prohibited us to set a fire, saying it was like a target for the enemy to attack, I tried to convince him otherwise but he was so stubborn. Some of our men died from hypothermia, other were attacked by frostbite, the coldness was unbearable. I even argued with him, I still suspect that the coldness was his doing. In fact, I don’t suspect it, I know it was him._

~~_Katya, it was so horrible that the thought of killing him has crossed my mind more than once_ _._ ~~

_A negotiation was held. The King of the west presented himself, asked our father to be rational, to accept a draw and settle the conflict without risking the innocent lives of the city inhabitants. I couldn’t help but be reminded of your sister, that man seemed kind and honest, and he truly was. Can you imagine the joy I felt when our father agreed? I thought I was finally returning home, away from this dreadful icy weather (to an equally cold but familiar one). I knew the soldiers were going to be relieved, how couldn’t they? yearning the return was a shared understandment._

_Sister, I hope this letter reaches you before the news, I don’t know how to describe what happened next, it is still a bit foggy, forgive me for the harshness of it. Our father commanded the soldiers to regroup, he gave them orders to attack, he planned to enter the city. Sister, I know that was a mistake, that choice costed us more than a half of our soldiers. If father were to read this letter he’d call me weak and sentimental just as he did back then, he said it was a small price for victory._

_Now, I understand sister, the reason why the soldiers fear him. Katya, the magic he teaches me is nothing, the city walls were covered in ice, he went practically alone once the blockade fell. I had to stay back, everything around him was freezing. I admit the enemy’s men were brave and dutiful just as ours, but it wasn’t enough, Katya it was horrible, I will not describe further for I do not wish for you to imagine it, I’ll tell you that the situation got out of hand. There was a point in which our own men were helping the villagers out of that hell._ ~~_Do you think father wanted to kill those people? perhaps our father forgot or that’s what i want to believe, although, I am doubtful_ ~~ _~~.~~ I am afraid sister, not only of him but of myself, the only thought that crossed my mind was to stop him. _ ~~_Katya, I wondered if i could kill my own father_ ~~ _~~.~~ I searched for him, it was easy to find him, everything was solid ice where he crossed _ ~~_and that godforsaken clock was thunderous_ ~~ _~~.~~ Katya, that other king I told you about found him, it is not as surprising now as it was at that moment, I thought he’d hurt our father. _ ~~_I didn’t mean to._ ~~ _I think i made a mistake sister, do you think we will achieve peace with our father around?_

_Katya, I am sorry, our father is right, I am weak. I didn’t do the right thing. Though, I wonder if there was even a right thing to do. When the enemy was defeated our father seemed to regain his composure,_ ~~_and strangely I saw him cry_ ~~ _~~.~~ Let me tell you sister that it is a thousand times more frightening to see our father express any kind of emotion and being the idiot our father has always claimed I am, I was clueless of how to calm him down. _

_I apologize for this dump of nonsense but I am unaware of what the next course of action should be. After the horrid events took place, our father has been constantly ill, not only physically as he’s in a constant feverish state but I’d dare to say mentally, as he keeps nagging at me to follow the original plan as if it were the only available choice and has been continually questioning me about our mother, I had to remind him of her death._

_Katya, I need you to prepare for our arrival, I decided to head back, there is no way we can recover by staying in the ashes of this city._

* * *

The letter ended abruptly, no signature and no farewell, Yekaterina was perplexed going through the letters to check the dates. She did get some news about the Firebird, but they said that the city had an unfortunate conflagration that forced the opponent kingdom to surrender. Neither the blizzard nor the king were mentioned.

She sighed, getting on her feet and walking down the hallway, looking longingly at the hanged, family portrait, one of the few things that consoled her while staying by herself in the palace. It was a shame she had to cover the portrait, as her father couldn’t bear to look at it, the kind eyes of her mother always seemed to greet Ivan but torture their father. Her mother’s expression seemed to pity her, or perhaps she pitied her son, or her husband. Katya could imagine her, receiving them with outstretched arms and the warmest smile, even though she tried to mimic her mother, Yekaterina was incapable of soothing her brother the same way, her words never seemed to work and her hugs couldn’t vanish whatever ghost that haunted his mind at night. 

Calling the brunette servant, she ordered to keep an eye on the imminent arrival of the King. With such simple request, the palace seemed to gain life, having everyone on edge and attentive of her pleads. The uncertainty of the arrival was surely going to keep her awake.


	4. A crown and a clock.

Arthur was accustomed to his life in the palace. 

Tutoring the twins and keeping them company while the king was away was quite easy. He had been bitter at the beginning, deeming the task as a babysitting activity but the peacefulness when Alfred behaved and Madeline played the piano was something he didn’t have back home with all his brothers’ fuss and fights.

In the gardens, he heard the hem of Madeline's dress rustling against the bench while Alfred ran around them claiming to be a knight, the current obsession the young prince had. Arthur smiled at the sight of the thirteen year old liveliness, he hoped that this time Alfred would stick to it instead of abandoning his classes as he had done before, the boy didn’t seem to have a long- lasting vocation. Arthur was disappointed, Alfred showed more interest in the fencing practices than the magic lessons he offered him, after all the magic ran in the family but it was futile to teach the prince if he refused. Madelaine on the other hand, was so diligent that Arthur was delighted, she’d be able to chant complex spells in no time, her attentiveness and carefulness were compatible with her curiosity and kindness. 

The warm and cozy scene was broken by the galloping of several horses and Alfred’s shouts, the boy ran excitedly to the palace as he heard the clicking of metal and hard footsteps. All that noise could only be due the King’s return. 

He followed Madelaine to the entrance, a bitter taste crawling in his mouth when he observed the knights surrounding the entrance, one of them stopping Alfred in his tracks, telling him to stay away. Arthur stepped up to them, a single glance outside confirmed his fears, the horses had returned but there were few men left, the king was nowhere to be seen. 

The twins were taken away by a maid, while Arthur was surrounded by courtsmen and the few soldiers that returned. An emergency meeting was held, taking the rest of the day as well as some part of the night, the King’s death was confirmed and the details for the following transition into the next monarch and the current defeat were arranged. Arthur had to sign a poorly done treaty, giving out territories to the enemy in order to assure peace. The only detail missing was that Arthur had to be crowned for the truce to be legitimate. 

The ceremony was going to be quick and solemn, after all, they had to save their respectful duel for the deceased king. Arthur stood still while some servants dressed him, not daring to glance at at them. He’d never admit it, but he was secretly scared and ashamed of his recent promotion if one could call it like that. He tried to not to worry too much about the situation but being told out of the blue that he was to take on the King’s duties until the prince was old enough to do so, were the kind of news that one had to take a week to overcome. All he was given were thirty minutes of breakfast and the resounding cries of two children when they got the news of their father’s death. 

Arthur tried to delay the crowning ceremony, he didn’t want to go through it, it was a horrid setting, the black dresses and the long and exhausted faces of the attendants made it worse. When he walked through the crowd of people, his heartbeat quickened, the silence that engulfed the scene was broken horribly by his footsteps and instead of feeling like the soon to be king in his crowning ceremony, he felt like walking the corridor to his execution. 

The smell of incense made him dizzy and the feathery cape they put on him made him sweat. When the crown was placed in his head, he felt chills running down his spine. It was heavy and cold, he wondered if the late king had passed through something similar or if it was just him over analyzing the scene. Arthur tried not not think about it as it reminded him of the fate of the later king. They said it was a coincidence but it took a bit of curiosity and some questions to the soldiers to figure that it wasn’t only an unfortunate conflagration. Fire and ice at the same time were strangely rare and the dimensions of both were suspicious. Arthur was sure magic had to be involved, the question was what kind of it.

The only certain thought that Arthur had at the moment was that everything would change from now on. The predicament that tormented him was if it would change for the better or not.

* * *

Arriving to his homeland seemed like a fairytale to Ivan, seeing the outlines of the palace from the city entrance was surreal after such a long trip, the sight filled him with ecstasy. 

They were received by a cheering crowd, they had returned victorious from a foreign land and for a moment, Ivan let himself be rejoiced by the sudden glory of it; staying back in the city instead of going straight into the palace alongside his father.

The evening went smoothly, the tired soldiers reunited with their families, the citizens offered a feast, unknowingly sharing it with their prince and for what seemed like a short span of time, Ivan felt himself at ease, not caring about his royal duties, his lessons or his father. What would he do? stand up from his illness and drag him back into the palace? 

The soldiers seemed to forget about his title, treating him as they would treat any other comrade, offering him the same warmth as they did to their fellow friends. Ivan found himself integrated within the group, they sat alongside, devoured the meals and shared the wine until one of them started to sing. 

It was only at that moment that Ivan understood he wasn’t supposed to be there, everybody joined the song while he just stayed there, drinking the awful beverage they called wine. The situation bothered him for a while but a couple of women served him another of those fermented liquors that made the whine seem like the greatest delicacy of the world. He pondered on throwing it away but the warm feeling it gave him made him change his mind. 

The night came before Ivan could realize, the people arranged a campfire and some musicians started a simple tune, some gathered around the fire and started a festive dance. He was dragged into the crowd, not bothering much to follow them as the dizziness made him clumsy, not that it mattered as most of the soldiers were worse than him. 

The dance was abruptly broken with the arrival of a carriage, Ivan trying to return to his sitting spot without tripping didn’t seem to register the scene until he was forcefully dragged into the carriage. Panic overtook him as he tried to ask for the help of the silent observers, reminding them that he was their prince. 

He kept struggling until he met the face of her sister, growing embarrassed of his foolishness.

She crossed her arms glaring at him. “I can’t believe what you did.”

He looked down, the situation was stupid, he couldn't help but laugh at the display of strictness from his sister. “Katya, what are you doing here? why did they drag me into the carriage?”

“You are drunk!” she exclaimed, furrowing her eyebrows and frowning.

“I am not… that drunk.”

She shook her head. “I won’t talk to you like this. You will go to sleep and we´ll talk tomorrow at first hour.” 

“Fine.” Ivan wasn't stupid enough to talk back to Katya when she was displeased, but seeing her frown and give him such disapproving glance made him realize how similar she was to their father.

The silence was bothering him but he was too mortified to keep on talking with her, leaning against the carriage’s window and feeling his eyelids heavier with each second, he let himself drift out to sleep accompanied by the galloping of the horses.

The next day, Ivan woke up with a horrible headache and an overwhelming sense of dread. He had to force himself to be present at breakfast. 

At the table, Katya sat with her brows furrowed. “What were you thinking?”

Ivan sighed, taking a seat. “Good morning sister, I am happy to see you too.”

She set aside her fork and scolded. “What is wrong with you? Everyone knows it was you, you stated it quite loudly last night, everyone is talking about it. What do you think Natalya and her family are going to think?”

A plate was arranged for him to eat, alongside some water. Ivan took a sip and dismissed with his hand. “They’ll think that I got drunk with the rest of the soldiers, which is not wrong. That wasn’t the worst thing I could have done last night, Katya. Anyway, is not like they are going to draw back from the compromise, they did not care when I explained that I was disgusted by it.”

Katya gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. “What has happened to you? you spend some time with father and return like a completely different person.”

“How is our father doing?” Ivan glanced at her sister before picking at his food.

Her behavior softened considerably. She moved away her food and looked away from him. “Not well, he keeps saying that the conquest is not over, that we must not sign or accept any peace offering”

“Well, in that he is right. why should we negotiate if we won? I don’t think that’s how a war works.”

She shook her head and raised her voice, her eyes pleading. “Vanya, you have to listen to me, while you arrived, there was a crowning ceremony in the west. The new king has sent a request, to end the conflict. It’s a good deal, convince father of accepting it. It’s enough bloodshed for now.”

Ivan glanced up to see her sister looking intently at him. The idea of talking with their father wasn’t attractive but he’d do as she wanted. After all, going back to another battle wasn’t something he wished to do. He nodded at her. “I'll try.”

* * *

Ivan entered the room in silence, trying not to upset the figure resting on the bed. 

He sat carefully in the chair that he supposed Katya had moved, meeting those familiar cold eyes that always glared at him, before he could talk, the king started. “I heard you spent some time with the soldiers.”

“Father, I'm here to talk about something else. My doings in the city are not of importance.”

His father scoffed. “Of course they are. I know what happened, Katya told me everything.”

Ivan frowned, how cruel could Katya be, sending him right into the beast’s fangs. 

“Ivan you are old enough to understand that your actions have consequences. What will people think when they see the next king, not only with the peasants but drunk?”

“If this is about Natalya and her family, I assure you they won't care.” Ivan said crossing his arms. 

“Of course they won't Ivan,” the king laughed. “My sister will see that you marry her daughter no matter what. I couldn't care less. What I am talking about is the people that matter, like the other princes we've just barely defeated or those from the western kingdom whose king you killed.”

Ivan straightened his posture, fidgeting with his fingers. “Father-”

“Do not interrupt me. You have to get this through, you have a reputation to maintain, you can't show weakness because the moment you do so, they'll attack you. You think you'll win the respect of the one's left in the firebird by sharing a feast? What we'll do from now on is to feed their fear. You saw what happened back there, that Ivan will be the key to maintain the order or to lose it. If they fear us, they won't fight back.”

Ivan leaned forward, looking down. “About that... they already surrendered, father. We have to rearrange administration and gain back the resources we spent. Signing the peace is the most sensible choice.”

The king sat up, raising his voice. “No, we won't I have to finish this, it is necessary. You are not capable of doing such thing.”

Ivan pushed him down again, not hiding the annoyance of his tone. “Father, you have to rest.”

“No, I can't. I will rest when I die,” he said, prying off Ivan’s hands from him. “This has to finish before you take over the throne. I won't die peacefully knowing that it'll be you doing it. Your mother will kill me.”

Ivan sighed, lowering his voice. “Father… I am sure that mother would have agreed to the treat, she disliked conflict. She'd like me to have a peaceful reign.”

“You Idiot, how dare you use your mother's memory like that,” the king fumed. “that's exactly what I am trying. Why do I have to bear with your useless rambling. Don't waste my time. I… Ivan, what time is it?”

“It’s four past five.” 

His father glanced around and questioned. “Where is it? What have you done with it? I won't pass that clock to you, give it back.”

Ivan rolled his eyes and stood up. “I don't know father. It's clear to me that you deem me unworthy of the family relic.”

“Where is it? What have you done?” the king cursed, his tone grew desperate, some servants entered and Ivan stepped back, frowning at his angered father and shrugging.

“Idiot! Where is it? What have you done? Why, why does this have to happen? Not again, this can't happen again. Ivan, what have you done? Where’s Katya?”

His father's shouts were appeased when Katya entered the room and retrieved the clock from the nightstand. The scene made Ivan glare, no matter what, his father would always blame him for everything, even stupid things like this.

Once outside, Katya was scolding him for torturing their father.

Ivan walked hurriedly through the corridor. "It isn't my fault that he has gone mad."

Katya followed his pace, lifting her dress to take longer strides. “You should have told him it was there.”

“How could I if he doesn't let me talk?” he argued.

“Did you manage to convince him?” She whispered.

Ivan stopped, shaking his head. “Katya, just sign the treaty yourself or I will. Father won't last long anyways.”

She gasped, fear crossing her face. “How can you say that?”

“Katya, at this point we are better off without him.” He admitted, looking down after the words left his mouth.

“Ivan!” She warned looking around the hall.

“He won't know unless you tell him,”Ivan murmured. “Sign with his name, you have his seal. If he somehow gets the news blame me for it. What will he do? Execute his successor? The rest of the kingdom approves your plan.”

Katya gasped but stayed silent probably pondering on the idea.

Ivan walked away, trying to evade the blue eyes judging him from above, perhaps he could convince Katya to finally burry that haunting gray wolf. 


	5. Hunting

Katya sighed heavily, her idea of enjoyment was different from what his brother had in mind, when she asked him to spend more time with her, she wasn’t expecting a lecture about military strategies or a challenge into a chess game. 

The silence was unbearable for her while Ivan seemed to be at ease or that’s what she supposed, his posture was tense and his eyebrows knitted together. She didn’t understand why he took so long to make a move, he kept on gazing intently at the tower as if he could move it with his thoughts while impatiently tapping his foot on the floor. 

Finally, breaking from his thoughts, he straightened and asked. “Katya, how do you manage to notice my attacks so fast?”

Katya laughed, stretching herself from the chair. “Do I? perhaps you shouldn’t think too much about it. Why aren’t you using the clothes I prepared?”

Ivan stood up, still glancing at the chessboard. “Will you tell me if I do?”

She frowned, “Natalya will arrive soon, make yourself presentable.”

“Why should I? yesterday you let me wander around in sleepwear.”

A soft chuckle was heard and Yekaterina glared at Tolys, he was standing by the window, averting his gaze to the ground.“Instead of laughing you should help me convince him,” she frowned.

In moments like these, their father’s words gained sense, Ivan was a spoiled child, but as stubborn as he was, Yekaterina couldn’t bring herself to be mad at him, he had enough with the harsh words of their father. Katya thought that her brother deserved to keep that youthful spirit of his, even when their father deemed it as childish. She shook her head and headed outside. Why couldn’t they enjoy the sunny weather they had today?

Her brother’s footsteps echoed in the corridor. “Fine, I will but don’t leave me alone with her.”

Katya stopped in her steps and turned to look at him. “Brother, although your naiveness is endearing, you need to learn about the basic courting rules.” Failing to conceal her amused smile, she added. “You seem to fear her more than our father.”

His expression grew serious. “More rules? I didn’t got out of our father’s military regime to get into your grasp. Katya, you know we are cousins, why can’t she marry someone else?”

“Why don’t you take your duties seriously? It is not something we can choose, we needed her father’s support to take over the Firebird and the only way to convince him was to assure the compromise,” -Katya glanced at Tolys, the brunette’s eyes widened, betraying his calm demeanor, she dismissed with her hand- “Don’t think too much about it, I arranged everything and requested Natalya to stay away from the birds if that’s what bothers you.” 

She finished her sentence with a chuckle but regretted it when she heard the slamming of a door.

Glancing at Tolys, she sighed “What have I done to deserve such moody brother?”

The brunette fidgeted with his hands.“Excuse me your highness, he has been acting like that since morning.”

“Could you convince him to dress properly?”

Tolys nodded, his eyes traveling back at the closed door, his voice wavering slightly. “I’ll try, your highness.”

* * *

The luncheon was awkward. A heavy silence hung between the participants, the servant’s footsteps had ceased after the food was served and the King focused on his meals. Any other person would have said that the man at head of the table was healthy as usual, for Ivan the illusion was shattered with a slightly closer observation. His father’s pale face denoted the lack of sunlight touching his skin while the small trembling of his hands was a vestige of the fits of illness that attacked him.

A soft voice cut through the silence. “Say, when will your son start the proper courting?” 

Natalya’s mother seemed like a kind woman, Ivan didn’t know much about her as she’d rarely visit them, she had a tender face that reminded him of his own mother, but unlike her, she spoke hesitantly, Ivan dared to say that fear coated her words, hence, the gloomy atmosphere surrounding them didn’t vanish.

The king sighed, setting down his fork. “It’s a bit early for such request, don’t you think?”

Ivan felt her gaze on him, she was frowning, her eyes traveling back to the king, to her brother, knitting her brows she argued. “It’s the right moment for that request, before anything else happens.”

“You mean before I pass away”

The words were harsh but the King’s voice was plain, Ivan would be lying if he stated disagreement towards his words but he felt uncomfortable. In one hand, he didn’t want to engage in conversation with this specific topic, although he knew he’d have to, on the other hand, he wondered if his relation with Katya would imminently end up like this. 

The sudden outburst from his aunt took him out of his thoughts, her face was flushed while her hands clenched tightly the cutlery, her voice quivered slightly but her volumed raised. “The only one expecting your death is yourself and perhaps your own son, we might not be close but I won’t deny you’ve been a good brother and an excellent king.” She looked down and sighed. “What worries me is the attitude your son seems to have towards Natalya, not answering her letters and refusing to visit her, for the very least he could acknowledge her presence.”

For a small moment, Ivan was surprised, seeing his father visible astonishment, the king seemed to ponder on her words, giving her a an approving nod accompanied with a small smile, perhaps to appease her.

The small gesture of kindness from his part, made Ivan glare with a growing sense of jealousy. With a derisive tone he stated. “We should go hunting, tomorrow at first hour. Natalya could come with us if she wishes to, she can run after the horses.”

“Ivan!” Yekaterina gasped, giving him a disapproving look. 

He felt his father’s gaze on him, after a tired sigh, the king apologized. “You must excuse Ivan, not even I could correct his behaviour and as you see, he lacks knowledge on how to approach women correctly.”

Natalya’s father laughed, dismissing with his hand. “Actually, that is a good idea, Natalya is familiar with the activity as well as with horse riding. Do not fret over your son, he isn’t the only stubborn youngster here.”

Ivan gazed at Natalya, her face was serious, her hands were folding a napkin, her slender fingers moved graciously marking creases on the fabric, the sight made him doubt her father’s words, was she capable of hunting while keeping her calm demeanor? he made a mental note to apologize to her later, he’d had to do it anyway, with or without his father’s scolding.

* * *

Ivan went ahead of them, not caring if the hunting ritual was ruined or if galloping of the horse scared the hart away.

The constant chatter between the two fathers was annoying him, Ivan wouldn’t have guessed that his father had any friends, even less that Natalya’s father was one. They had kept a conversation addressing each other as old comrades, not wanting to engage in conversation with them Ivan payed attention. Apparently, Natalya’s father would be administering the restorations on the Firebird, at the mere mention of that cursed place, Ivan felt sick. Once the chase started Ivan tightened his hold on the reigns, trying to escape from their company.

Unfortunately for him, Natalya followed, her voice startling him. “Are you that annoyed by my presence that you want to run away in a horse?”

Ivan averted his gaze from her. “No, it’s just… I don’t think you should be here yet, where is your father or Tolys?”

“Why do you keep him around, isn’t he a defeated enemy?” She picked up his pace, Ivan had to admit that Natalya did know how to ride a horse properly. 

“His father was an enemy, Tolys is a friend and he’s a good listener.”

She halted, asking cautiously. “So, he’s your servant and you favour him over the others?”

Ivan stopped too, the forest was silent, that meant his father was far. “Why did you want to go hunting?”

She shrugged, her face reminded Ivan of his father, the stoic expression she seemed to maintain falthered, confusion showed in her eyes. “You requested it. I tried to learn about the things that interested you but Yekaterina didn’t give me much information, she said you liked to stare at the trophies in the hall and I guessed you were good at hunting.”

“That a bold assumption.” he stated, hearing the barking of the dogs, a few raindrops started to fall.

She fidgeted with the reigns, her face revealed discomfort but she quickly masked it with a small laugh. “It was fun to imagine it, either way, you aren’t denying it, but if I’m mistaken, I’d like to know what you actually enjoy doing.” She stopped, glancing back nervously, “At least you can hold small conversation and listen, I hope you don’t have the misfortune of meeting Feliks, he still dares to call himself a prince.”

Ivan smiled at her comment, Natalya seemed like a good company for the time being.

Galloping hooves resounded in the small forest.

The barking of the dogs becoming the alarm signaling the target’s location, Ivan saw his father approach while the galloping of the horses mimicked the ticking of a clock, marking the compass of their game, a cruel game in Ivan’s opinion but a game nevertheless.

He was glad his father would make the kill, he looked up to see that Natalya had already left, following the group, he headed to where they stood still.

The hart surrounded by the dogs provided a pitiful sight, untouched by their fangs the animal twitched slightly, agonizing. Ivan stared in silence, the soft specs of light from the sunrise fell delicately on the wet leaves around the small animal, the few drops of water that fell on its fur dampened it in a matter of seconds.

The rain started to fall vigorously but Ivan didn’t move, his eyes fixed on the animal, the blue eyes of the hart were staring back at him, perhaps pleading, perhaps waiting, Ivan wasn’t sure. He heard his father, leading them back, to the safety of the palace, the image of the warm fireplace was tempting but his body refused move.

A quiet voice cut through the silence. “I’ll take care of it.”

Ivan’s eyes focused on Natalya, she was still by his side, her wet hair clung to her face while she got down the horse. Pale hands reaching for the dying animal, a scarlet splotch staining her fingers. The sight made Ivan cringe, turning away from her, he tightened his hands on the reigns and left.

Instead of heading back with the others, he decided to take shelter in the horse stables, climbing down the mare quickly. The raindrops hammered on the wooden roof, the smell of wet dirt grew stronger. Ivan took long breaths trying to overcome the dizziness that attacked him, blaming the cold rain for his trembling.

“Are you sick?”

The voice was unfamiliar with a strange ring in it, almost foreign and relieve washed over him, the least he needed now was his family to see him like that. Small, unsure footsteps approached and Ivan shook his head, stepping back until he reached the wall.

A small boy stared at him, his eyebrows knitted together. “You are scary, I’m going to call my sister!”

Ivan watched the boy leave, he’s tiny feet were bare, not minding the heavy rain or the muddy ground. He sat tiredly, clasping his hands together to keep them warm, glad that he was left alone.

Focusing on his breathing, the dizziness vanished but his coldness increased. He saw the boy from earlier, dragging with him a young woman, the similarity between them proved the boy’s words, he did retrieve his sister. She was begrudgingly walking behind him. “I already told you, there are no ghosts in the stables-” Her words died down and her steps faltered when her gaze locked with him.

Ivan kept his stare, it was always amusing to see the servants’ uneasy demeanor. She whispered something to the boy, ushering him to go away.

She approached slowly, her eyes darting from him to the ground while she fidgeted with her hands.

Ivan sighed, glaring at her. “I don’t need anything, go away.”

She huffed, leading the horse, his horse, into one of the stalls. “Nonsense, you are trembling,” she seemed to ponder on her words before she added quietly “your highness.”

Ivan kept silence, she came back with a small handful of straw, she sat beside him and formed a messy sphere with it, placing it in front of him. Her brown eyes inspected him, annoyance coated her words. “Well… aren’t you going to set it on fire?”

The young prince wanted to laugh, such a cruel joke being played on him, perhaps she didn’t mean it like that, he simply murmured averting his gaze. “How?”

“Don't you know?”

Ivan stared at her, wondering how long his patience would last, it was insulting enough to have her addressing him so informally.

She didn’t seem to register his discomfort and smirking, she added. “Can’t you do it?”

Ivan stood up, there was no way he was going to let a servant make fun of him, he preferred to face his father’s wrath before bearing with such disrespect, the rain was ceasing anyway.

Before he could storm out of the stables, he heard her string of apologies. Perhaps he could delight in her anguish for a bit. He was about to deliver a childish remark of “my father will know about this” instead a lame “How-” escaped him, the small flames dancing between her hands caught his attention.

“I’m really sorry, your highness, I thought your father showed you how to cast a simple spell.”

Ivan frowned at the insult, approaching her to look at the fire closely. “This better not be a trick, tell me how you did it. Does… does he help you too?”

She snickered. “Of course not, why would the king talk to me? 

“Not my father, the… the ghost.” 

She squinted her eyes, nodding slightly and shrugged. “It’s quite simple, I thought you knew-”

Ivan interrupted her, not wanting for her to insult him again, he took her by the shoulders harshly, the small fire died down as the straw fell from her hands. “I won’t repeat it again, do as I say-”

“What on earth are you doing? Ivan!” His sister’s voice echoed in the place.

Natalya stood beside his sister, drenched and trembling. Yekaterina’s face was flushed, Ivan hoped it was embarrassment and not anger, though that was a weak guess. He realized he hadn’t moved at all and that he was still holding the poor girl, swiftly letting go of her, he stumbled back. “Katya! What are you doing here?”

“I’d like to ask you the same thing! What do you think you are doing? Not only did you left Natalya alone in the rain, but we find you in the stables harassing this poor woman.”

“I wasn’t harassing her,” Ivan turned to the girl, glaring. “Right?”

She nodded quickly and stammered. “He… he wasn’t, I’m sorry.”

Katya gasped, her face flushed even more, addressing the girl she spat. “Get out of my sight!”

Ivan watched the servant girl leave, her hurried steps and her shaky hands, he mentally slapped himself for not requesting her name, now he had to look around for a brown haired maid, how difficult could that be?

His gaze traveled back to Natalya, she was silent, following the brown haired girl with her stare, her expression unreadable if it weren’t for the clenched fists at her sides. Ivan wondered if this incident was enough for her to break the compromise if he was lucky she’d complain with her father and perhaps they’ll deem him dishonorable. 

Katya started pacing, fidgeted with her sleeve and with a cheerful voice broke the silence. “Let’s go have some tea”

Natalya followed her without a word, Ivan’s gaze stayed in the burnt pieces of straw laying on the floor, he sincerely hoped it wasn’t a trick


	6. You are not my father

The table was enormous, Alfred had seen it before but every time, he’d found something new.

It was his second favorite place in the palace, the first one was the throne as he used to acompain his father there, but after his death, it was no longer fun to be there. The old, worn out carvings gave the place a dull aspect, and seeing Arthur replacing his father’s place made his heart ache.

The meeting hall was more interesting these days, full of counselors and generals, Alfred’s gaze fell on the outlines in the table, a detailed map was carefully painted, signaling each border, river and mountain of their kingdom as well as the others. The figures representing the troops had been retrieved, the map was ignored by everyone, as they discussed the upcoming celebration.

Why should they celebrate?

He could certainly understand the peace offering, it was a miracle the other kingdom had accepted, Alfred was aware that the moment his father ceased breathing, the troops retreated, they had lost and Arthur was declared on charge until new advice.

The idea of begging for a truce made him shook with anger, why did they had to retreat? why didn’t the soldiers kept fighting, with or without their king, they had a duty to fulfill, how could they surrender so easily? did they forget to fight for their families, their people?

The boundaries between right and wrong that his father had taught him, were crumbling under Arthur’s choices. He had accepted the deal and he was offering a celebration, to strengthen the relations between the Kingdoms. That Alfred could understand, but since Arthur declared the terms of it, a question started to nag at him, a question that he decided to voice out.

With a clear voice, he asked. “Why must we pay for it all?”

The room fell silent, all of them acknowledging his presence for the first time. 

He could see Arthur’s green eyes scanning him with disdain. He gave a long sigh before answering. “Alfred, I appreciate your concern towards official matters, your presence here is... of great importance, but for now, is better if you just observe and stay silent. ”

Alfred frowned, what if he had sneaked into the meeting? he was the rightful heir after all. “But-”

“I’m not asking you, Alfred. It’s an order. If you want to stay here, you will only listen.” Arthur’s voice was firm, 

Arthur’s words had let him shocked, asking him to be sensible, to favour peace and to seek an amiable dialogue and even friendship with the prince from the eastern Kingdom. 

Alfred felt his blood boil with rage, his voice echoed in the room. “You can’t give me orders, you are not my father!”

Arthur seemed to be shocked at first but his expression changed into a frown, his eyes averted from the prince, a few whispers were heard, but soon the dialogue was resumed as if Alfred hadn’t uttered a word. 

After some minutes of his useless rambling, Alfred stormed out of the room, his blue eyes had watered at the thought of forgetting his father’s death in order to maintain a hypocrite relation with that other prince. 

How could Arthur ask him that? He refused to talk with that tyrant, he knew what they had done to the people of the Firebird and still Arthur called them honorable rulers? 

Seeking solace, he locked himself in the library. Arthur wouldn’t find him there as it was obvious he deemed him to be a childish fool. 

Arthur had showed his true colors with such a simple act, one thing was sure, Alfred would take the crown from him as soon as he could. 

He sighed, registering the shelves, full of dusty books, except for the ones he had retrieved for his lessons. For now, he had to pretend he was in agreement with Arthur’s commands.

Something he had learned from his father was that he must fight for what was right and noble, but for that, he needed backup, he couldn’t do everything alone. 

The books as Gilbert had said, provided the necessary knowledge to recognize the enemy. They were powerful, acquiring the Firebird was a tactical achievement, they had opening through the river, right into the city, the only obstacle for them seemed to be the climate as they seemed to have an extremely harsh weather and their side of the territory had the river with a thick layer of ice covering it. 

Alfred needed to convince prince Ludwig of helping him against them. 

Luckily for him, he knew someone of influence there, Gilbert was his tutor for a short span of time, before his father died, before Arthur dismissed him out of spite, saying he’d take over that duty when in reality, he dismissed Alfred every time he tried to approach him, and barely talked to him. 

His excuse was that he wasn’t an appropriate mentor, appropriate for what? Alfred didn’t know. 

He admitted that Gilbert had a sublime presence, he’d refused his crown in order to become a knight, he was a good storyteller and a strict tutor, Alfred had been esceptic of his achievements at first as he was always bragging, but quickly realized he had a reason to. 

Alfred wanted to become just as competent if not more than him. 

A strong and disciplined king would result in a equally powerful kingdom and that was exactly what Alfred wanted, for his people to be strong willed and to never bend the knee again. 

* * *

Ivan could hear the distant sounds of a clock.

He sweared that each night the sound was louder, he had been tempted to snatch it from his father’s hands and throw it into the fireplace or something last night. 

He glared at the closed door, grunting and covering his head with the covers.

At least he didn't have to worry about Natalya for a while. Her father was too preoccupied with his newly acquired duties and they'd be moving to the Firebird once it was restored. 

Even though the compromise was still taking place, Ivan was glad she didn't mention the incident and seemed to act reasonably, requesting a constant exchange of letters for the time being.

His father didn't need another reason to despise him.

The wooden door creaked, and he heard approaching footsteps.

A strange, tender tone, coated his father's words. “Vanya, how have you been?”

Ivan moved the covers out of his face, trying to read his expression in the dark room. “Father... shouldn’t you be resting?”

The light coming from the window outlined his father's face, showing sickly pale skin and dark circles under his eyes. He gave a long sigh, looking back at the door. “Perhaps... why are you awake?”

“I...it’s nothing...”

Ivan felt the icy hand placed in his head, the King's eyes were gentle, not giving their usual glare. “Tell me, son, what worries you?”

He looked down, sitting on the bed, losing the cold touch of his father. “I heard something… it has been like that for a few nights”

Ivan saw him grin. “Is it a clock? I advise you to read your grandfather’s diary, you might learn a thing or two." The smile grew wider, the voice changing unnaturally low, the violet eyes turning blue. "He was a bit… strange, but wiseness and craziness sometimes come together. ”

With widened eyes, the prince raised his voice. “You are not my father!”

“I obviously am not," the man said, his face contorting in a expression of mocking indignation "and here was I thinking you’d grown fond of me, are you that desperate for his approval?”

Washed over by a wave of uneasiness, Ivan wondered why he didn't notice the man's military attire before, the bluish tone coating his skin.

He gathered enough courage to stand up, facing the man with a frown. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m just collecting an old debt, is there something you need?” The man seemed to float around him, placing his cold hands on Ivan's shoulders.

He shook his head, feeling chills running down his spine “No, thank you, I don’t need to set my own home on fire.”

A cold hand stroke Ivan's hair. “But you were thinking about it” 

“The clock, not my room.”

The man's silvery voice was merely a whisper. "Your father wanted to burn it too"

Ivan turned back, staring right into those blue eyes. "Of course he would, he'd never give it to me."

"Does that bother you? Do you hate him?" The words echoed in Ivan's mind as if it were his own conscience questioning him.

He shook his head.

The tall figure stepped closer. “I’m talking about then, you wanted to kill him. Unluckily for you, I was helping your father. But do not think I am unloyal, from now on, I will help you, that is... if you manage to do things the right way." Leaning into his ear, the man whispered. "Say, do you want another wolf?” 

Ivan stepped back, opening the door and running down the hall. A thunderous laughter echoing.

When he reached his father's door, he tried to push it open, his hands trembling when they reached the handle. Gaining odd looks from the guards.

In his panic haze, Yekaterina's alarmed voice reached him. “Vanya, what are you doing?”

He turned to see his sister's confused face. Answering her hurriedly. “Katya, there is someone in there, We have to-” 

He paused, turning to the guards and scolding them. “Open the doors! Protect him!”

The doors were opened, no one was there except for his father, laying on the bed.

Ivan's voice wavered, he shook Katya's arm. “I… I saw it, Katya, please, believe me, that stupid clock was ticking...I-.”

His words were cut by his sister's hand covering his mouth. 

She glanced wearily at their father. "I'm sorry for the disturbance, father, keep resting."

Katya frowned at him, probably about to scold him for his outburst. She took the handle of the door, closing it slightly.

She paused, staring inside the room intently, her voice wavering this time.

"Father?"


	7. Secret

The palace had never looked so well.

Ivan was astonished, every time he walked around the palace, he discovered something new. The mosaics in the hallway’ windows were vibrant with color, no longer dulled with gray tones. 

The book shelf’s had been rearranged, giving the library an outstanding presence, a variety of glass engraved bottles were neatly placed in what Katya called ´The Laboratory´.

The main hall with its polished floors reflected the paintings from the ceiling, the chandelier hanging from above shined vigorously, resembling a waterfall.

All those changes were Yekaterina’s doing. She had insisted on hosting a ball before the main celebration with the western Kingdom, a kind gesture of welcome for the defeated princes and an opportunity for Ivan to engage in an unknown territory of diplomatic dialogues and courtesy acts.

To Ivan’s dismay, that meant a new handful of rules and behaviors to acquire.

Ivan had to admit that Natalya’s father was an excellent advisor, helping Katya to arrange the restorations as well as to cover their lack of King, or father.

He could still remember that dreadful night. Katya locked the door, dismissing the guards and asking them to clear the whole wing and for Ivan to call Natalya’s father. Ivan had complied, not understanding why she had asked such thing.

He sat in the hallway waiting for his sister to come out of that horrid room. He had found himself under the gaze of Natalya’s father. Ivan found it strange, to be scrutinized by those blue eyes. “You’ll have to endure difficulties from now on.” Was what he had said.

Katya had cried, looking for comfort but instead of reaching for his embrace, she had turned to Natalya’s father, asking for advice, teary eyed as she was, she kept looking out for their wellbeing.

Ivan had to console his sister for a week, she would constantly cry out, tormenting herself of being a horrible daughter, upset for lying to everyone about their father, for writing letters on his name.

In addition to that, they had to host that godforsaken ball.

For Ivan it wasn’t such a good idea to invite their ex- enemies into their home but Katya insisted to host the ball, saying it would be suspicious to delay or cancel it. She had been so busy these days that he could barely get a glimpse of her and when he did, it would usually end up with her scolding him. Not only was Katya impersonating their father through letters but she was also resembling his behaviors towards him, being either dismissively cold or unnecessarily harsh.

In a shameful attempt of pettiness, she had hired a tutor to teach him ´the proper etiquette´ as if he didn’t know already. This process of learning, apart from being extremely boring, had proved to be useless, the more time Ivan spent with his tutor the more he despised him.

The man was petty and Ivan wasn’t keen of his antics, the way he scrutinized him and underlined his mistakes, irked the prince into a state of irrational rage. He could take those behaviors from his father or Katya but he wasn’t going to take them form a foreigner and even less from this man whom had obviously lived in luxury his whole life, Ivan was sure that in a battlefield this man would be dead in a matter of seconds. 

It was only logical for Ivan to skip one or two of his lessons, preferring to take a walk around the palace and observe the servants that frequented the stables. 

Ivan sighed, the warmth radiating from the sun gave him a sense of tiredness, the gardens of the castle were his favorite place, sitting by the fountain, and watching the servants going back and forth through the halls, their swift movements and casted down stares entertained him, sometimes he greeted them, it was fun to see their hopeless expression, their nervous movements, trying not to offend him but not being too friendly either, they were scared of him after all.

Ivan frowned at the thought, why was it that he, even surrounded by all these people felt so alone?

Katya had tried to convince him into forming a court again, saying that he could make friends with other ‘lower princes’, even when he had allowed almost every request she had, he refused to let her have her way with that, it was too dangerous.

Ivan understood her plead, as he had grown bored of his short conversations with Katya and Natalya. They were kind and loving, he couldn’t deny that, but Katya was always talking about his future duties as a king and Natalya… well, she was… unique, one moment she would praise him for every single thing he had done, and the other she was cursing him for not advancing quicker in her courting.

He had already tried to contemplate the idea of marrying her, reasoning that Natalya was a beautiful woman, she was intelligent and honest, she would probably be the kind of wife who wouldn’t hesitate in pointing out his mistakes, which in his situation was an appealing trait. Honesty is a strange feature when you are surrounded by people trying to please you.

He had managed to ignore the issue for a while, until a dreadful night, during dinner, his aunt had sheepishly asked him how many children he was willing to have. For Ivan, the problem weren’t the children, for he was not bothered by them, he found them quite cute and cheerful, the problem was the idea of having them with Natalya. If he couldn’t bear with the idea of kissing her on the lips, the scenery of something beyond that was horrendous. 

After that night, Ivan was more aware of Natalya’s insinuations. Since her father left, she started to slip letters into his room. Not knowing what to do, Ivan had gifted her a book, so they could perhaps talk about it. He had expected her to answer his questions, about her life in the outskirts and the books she had received, but he found himself reading an ardent confession of passion and “never-ending” love for him, alongside a harsh and wrathful demand for her rightful time of waiting to be finally over.

Ivan didn’t know how to reply to her and asking Katya would be of no use, the last time he had approached the topic, she had assured him that it was completely normal to feel like that but with time he would grow to love Natalya. Ivan felt annoyed, he did love Natalya but not like that, why couldn’t Katya understand?

Ivan huffed, walking by the fountain, he took out the silver clock and glanced at it. The godforsaken clock couldn’t mark the time properly, stopping at random moments of the day, always giving off the wrong hour, why did his father cherish it so much? 

It didn’t matter, seeing the wrong time irritated him even more, and he threw it, aiming for the top of the fountain and failing pathetically, the clock flew in the opposite direction, landing next to the roses. The prince was glad nobody saw his bad aim, but he didn’t pick the clock back, it wasn’t his after all, his father never gifted it, perhaps for its uselessness.

He glared at it, until a pair of hands took the clock from the ground, the same brunette girl from the stables was holding it, her eyes focused on the silver glimmer while her fingers traced the engravings. 

Ivan stood up, calling out to her. “You! Come here!”

She flinched, letting the clock fall softly to the ground and stepping back. Once her eyes locked with his, she picked up a basket, turned on her heel and scurried away. 

He hastened his steps, following her into a hallway, other servants glanced at him, clearing the way, and before she could turn on a corner, he raised his voice. “Do not run, it’s an order!”

She halted her steps abruptly, turning to frown at him. “I am deeply sorry, your majesty. I didn’t think you were addressing me.”

Ivan looked around, the walls were made of stone, it seemed like a totally different palace, void of any elegancy or indulgence. He straightened his posture, scolding her. “You have some explaining to do.”

She showed him the basket, full of berries, holding her gaze and arching an eyebrow. 

His confidence seemed to drop considerably, most servants would lower their head and nod at everything he said. He lowered his tone. “How did you do it?”

She rolled her eyes. “I went to the town and bought them”

Ivan shook his head, motioning with his hands, not knowing how to explain. “No. How did you control it? the fire...”

She averted her gaze, stepping back and holding the basket in front of her. “I told you it was a spell.”

A pair of arms enveloped him from behind, Natalya’s voice made him flinch, was she following him again? “You are a witch, I knew it!”

Ivan turned and glared at her, prying off her hands. 

Natalya shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. “Yekaterina requests your presence.”

He sighed. “Fine, I’ll go in a minute,” he glanced at the brunette girl, she was observing them silently. “Natalya… can you leave?”

Natalya looked around and scrunched her nose. Her blue eyes scrutinized the girl. “You shouldn’t talk with the peasants”

“You shouldn’t tell me what to do. Go back and tell Katya to wait.” Ivan replied annoyed. 

Natalya’s eyes widened, she huffed but complied, her blue dress contrasted heavily with the surroundings, she lifted her skirt as to not get it dirty.

“She’s right, your majesty. You shouldn’t talk with the peasants, it might damage your arrogance. I’m sure you can find a book of spells in that spacious library you have.” The brunette girl sighed, turning to leave.

Ivan frowned, taking her arm, she flinched, dropping the basket. He stepped back, the looking down at the berries. “What is your name?” 

She turned back, her voice was harsh, her checks slightly flushed. “For what? Is your father going to punish my family again? Have I ruined everything for dropping this?”

Ivan stepped back at her outburst, frustration coating his words. “My father is dead and I am not him, I don’t even know you.”

Her eyes widened, she huffed and lowered his head, keeling down to pick the fruits. “Chun Yan”

Ivan blinked, knitting his eyebrows, he sighed. “I’ll see you by the fountain at one o’clock if you do not arrive, I will send the guards for you.”

She didn’t answer. 

* * *

Ivan was frustrated. His lesson had been a total fail. All his answers were wrong, his pen was running out of ink every five seconds and the wind was blowing so hard, the window opened and his notes flew away from the table, scattering on the floor. 

His tutor adjusted his glasses, sighing exasperatedly. “Dear Lord, you are worse than Gilbert. At least he acts foolishly on purpose, you on the other hand, are terribly clumsy.”

The man was pacing impatiently around the room when Tolys arrived to say that the food had already been served.

Ivan followed the brown-haired man, he was dressed in an elegant attire, the brown uniform could pass as a fancy choice of Tolys’ but Ivan knew it was to match Feliks’, the puffed sleeves were new and the white color of it contrasted heavily with the rest of it. 

Ivan frowned, Tolys’ shoes were worn out. He had gifted him a pair a few days ago, why wouldn’t he use them? If Tolys wanted to insult him, then Ivan had the right to play around with the brunette’s usual nervousness.

A smile crept into Ivan’s face, his words coated with a sweet almost innocent tone. “Tolys, do you believe in magic?”

The brown-haired man nodded at him. “Yes your highness, I do.”

“Why?” 

Tolys stopped and turned to him. “Your father wa- he paused, averting his gaze -he is very open in using it in front of everyone, your highness.”

Ivan frowned, the people in the castle were too keen or afraid of his father, of his power. “He was also a good liar, Tolys, he didn’t have real magic, he only took it, as a loan.”

“I… uh… ” Tolys seemed distressed while he opened the door for him.

Ivan smiled, Tolys was easy to scare. “Never mind, do me a favor and retrieve my clock from the garden, it must be somewhere alongside the roses. And be quick, so you can join us in the feast.”

The brunet nodded and bowed, walking hastily out of the room. 

The table was large and prominent, it called for your attention once you entered, the silverware was neatly placed and the seats were already filled, except for two, Ivan knew his seat was at the head of the table.

The room fell silent when he entered, everyone turning to look at him, Ivan could recognize some of the people there. Like Tino and Vlad, the “lower” princes, from the lands his father had conquered. Ivan felt uneasy around them, some would look at him with hatred, others with fear, he felt so alone during these banquets.

He smiled, not addressing anyone in particular, glancing at Katya, who was seated in the right of the empty chair chatting with “prince” Feliks. Ivan forced himself to walk faster and greeted them lowly.

The green-eyed man smiled, his lips were tight, not hiding an inch of his faked courtesy. “Good afternoon, Prince Ivan, we are like really hungry, what took you so long?”

Ivan took his seat harshly and muttered. “I was in the middle of a lesson.”

The green-eyed prince rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but this had been arranged beforehand, so you should try to be on time, use that awful clock you have. Where is Tolys?”

Katya placed her hand in Ivan’s shoulder, he looked up noticing that the room had fallen silent, he sighed and answered shortly. “He is retrieving something for me.”

“You should treat him better, he is a prince too.” Feliks sneered. 

Ivan glared at the blond and raised his voice slightly. “I know, but unlike you Feliks, Tolys knows his place in here.”

Feliks laughed, taking hold of his wine. “We surrendered to your father, we are loyal to him. I owe you nothing, Ivan.”

Ivan frowned, he could picture the others smiling at Feliks, they were all traitors. “Then what are you doing here, Feliks?”

Feliks twisted his cup. “Maintaining peace, not everyone is a bloodlust beast.”

Katya scolded him. “Feliks, do not mistreat my dear brother.”

Ivan smiled again and stood up, raising his cup. The others shared an uneasy glance and raised their cups as well. “I´d like to thank you all for your presence here today. We rejoice with your company and your hard work, without it, the kingdom would not be what it is today.”

Tolys entered the room looking worriedly at Ivan and taking his seat, beside Feliks and raising his cup, almost missing the general toast. “For the king!”

Ivan sat right after they cheered, how stupid it was to have a toast for a dead king. At least Feliks was right about something. They owned nothing to him. 

Tolys leaned in the table, catching his attention. “I’m sorry your highness, there was nothing by the roses.”

Ivan knitted his eyebrows together, where could it be?

Feliks turned to him, smiling. “Ivan, I’m really sorry for your loss, let’s hope that your reign is longer.”

With those words, Ivan fell silent, how did he know?

Katya glanced uneasily at him, fidgeting with her napkin.

Feliks laughter was like a bell, he glanced at Yekaterina. “I’m referring to the clock, he seems to be attached to it.”

She sighed and resumed a conversation with him.

Every time Ivan tried to intervene, he would get nasty glares from the blonde and dismissing words from his sister, even Natalya was ignoring him.

This situation made him grow uneasy, he glanced at his plate, he had barely touched his food, he wasn’t hungry, he just wanted to go out and have some fresh air. He could hear a lot of voices, murmurs, and laughs but deep in the distance, he could distinguish the ticking of a clock, echoing harder with each second. 

He decided to leave, they would not miss him, anybody was talking to him anyway. He stood up and left without a word. Katya would be mad at him for this, but he wanted to get out of there. 

Outside, in the garden, he found some of the servants chatting. There were a few of them gathered around a young girl. She was talking excitedly, showing them something with her hand. Ivan approached them slowly, realizing that she was holding his silver clock. 

Ivan hastened his pace, shouting at her from the distance. “Give me back my clock, you thief!”

The servants turned to him fearfully and moved away, revealing a familiar girl. What was her name again?

She hurried to him and presented the clock, Ivan snatched it from her and put it in his pocket. “Why are you still here? I want you out now.”

The girl shook her head and muttered. “I didn’t steal it and you told me to wait here.” 

Ivan knitted his eyebrows together. “You told him!”

The girl’s voice wavered. “What are you talking about? I was going to return the clock.”

Ivan glanced at her, she had a simple dress, plain, old, perhaps it had been white but now it was almost gray. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a bun. He remembered his father telling him that hairstyle was usual in oriental women, Ivan wondered how and why was someone from that far in his castle, meeting his eyes. She was probably a spy or something. Those dark orbs were pleading as if that would convince him. 

“You say that now because I caught you,” he reproached her.

She shook her head again, furrowing her brows and replying, almost shouting this time. “I was fixing it. You told me i had to be here!”

How dare she? She had no right to raise her voice at him. He was beyond furious, he felt the air around them getting colder.

Katya’s voice broke into the scene, she was accompanied by Tolys. “Ivan, what’s going on?”

He turned to his sister and pointed at the frightened girl. “She stole my clock! And dared to disrespect me.”

Tolys approached the girl while she argued. “I didn’t… you asked-”

Ivan glanced at her, she was scared and she should be. He addressed Tolys. “Take her away, I don’t want thieves in my palace.”

While the brunette was dragging her away, she kept on with her excuses. “I fixed it! Look at it. Please. You told me I should wait here!” 

Katya was scrutinizing him, taking his hand. “Ivan, dear, calm down. Let’s go inside.”

He took out the clock, it was ticking, just as usual, marking one, the right hour. Ivan felt his hand tremble and glanced at Tolys, at the girl, but he could no longer see them.


	8. Observing

The fireplace was lit, the windows closed to keep the warm air inside, the room was neat, except for the pair of shoes thrown aside carelessly. In the floor laid a spacious carpet, the beautiful engraves in it hidden by the figure sitting on top of it. Blonde hair was tousled and moved with each shake coming from his owner. Clenching at his stomach, with teary eyes, laugher escaped from the blonde’s lips.

Tolys’ voice broke into the room, he sat beside the blonde, crossing his arms. “Don’t laugh Feliks, I felt really bad for her. She was crying when the guards took her out, she said something about her family but I don’t remember very well.”

The laugher ceased and Feliks sat up. “Oh, no Tolys that’s awful. I am not laughing at that. I am not heartless,” -He wiped a tear from his eye- “but Ivan made a fool of himself in front of everyone. He acted like a child, Yekaterina had to calm his tantrum.”

The brunette furrowed his eyebrows. The wood was cracking and the fire grew brighter. “I don’t see why you are happy, now he will be mad all week. You also need to be more careful with how you treat them and how you talk about me.”

A small laugh and Feliks purred. “Oh, poor Tolys is scared of what Ivan might do to him?”

Tolys glanced back to see the blonde passing his hand through the carpet. “You don’t understand Feliks, It’s not funny, I don’t want to push my luck in here. Yekaterina seems kind but she isn’t stupid, Lady Natalya has suggested throwing me out of here and so far Ivan paying no heed to her is what has kept me around. They don’t trust me.”

Feliks paused, staring intently at the royal engravings in the fireplace. “I know, that’s why I am planning to hide you away.”

The brunette let out a nervous laugh, glancing at the door. “Don’t joke around like that. If he hears us he might ask for your head in a plate.”

“As if he isn’t now.”

Tolys took the blonde’s hand giving it a light squish. “You have to be careful.”

Feliks enveloped him in a hug and whispered. “No, you are the one who has to take care of yourself. I don’t want them to kill you.”

The brunette returned the embrace, muttering softly. “They won’t, Ivan has been decent, he might be a good friend.”

Feliks pushed him apart and scoffed. “Yeah, said that to the ones who died because of him and his greediness.”

“Feliks, that was his father, not him.”

The blonde stood up, walking to the fireplace his eyes following the dance of the flames. “He was there with them. You didn’t saw him, he was galloping with the soldiers, he was leading the army that besieged my city. He killed him.”

The brunette stayed silent, it was of no use to talk to Feliks now, when he was in that state he would get furious, trashing at Tolys if he dared to defend Ivan. Tolys understood the blonde’s frustration, it was humiliating to be under other’s reign, but he also understood Ivan’s situation, being the prince he had to take part in the battles, even more so with such father, it was part of his duty as the heir.

After some moments of silence, Feliks spoke up again. “Why do you think he made a fuss over a clock?”

Tolys shrugged, reaching for the abandoned shoes on the floor. “His father gave it to him.”

Feliks turned to him, receiving the footwear. “It’s not a secret that Ivan hates his father if that’s the case, he’d be glad to get rid of it.”

“I don’t know, perhaps he feels regret, he must be grieving after all. Yekaterina has weighted him with her sorrows but not even once have I seen her asking him how he feels.”

The blonde sat down to try on the shoes, glaring at the untouched state of them. “Tolys, you talk about him as if you pitied him, I want you to disobey him.”

“It’s not that simple.”

Feliks stood up, giving some hesitant steps. “He is not your friend, he doesn’t deserve your kindness.”- He jumped making Tolys step back.-“You’ll leave with me tomorrow.”

The brunette looked worriedly at him, fidgeting with his hands. “Feliks-”

The blonde headed to the door, interrupting him. “No excuses, we’ll have a trip to the countryside.”

Without any other words, Feliks left, leaving Tolys confused and anxious. He glanced at the fireplace, the flames had died down, the ashes and the little wood left were still burning, coated in a bright red warmth. 

He straightened his posture and went back to the main hall, if not they would notice his absence. 

* * *

Ivan searched around in the library.

Unluckily, he could not find any book regarding magic itself, there were mentions of it in the history books but none of them gave actual instructions. At the end, he had entertained himself with a book of tales tales that his mother used to read to him, it was more of a epic tale than a children’s book, describing battles against a wicked enemy with outstanding detail. He remembered half of the stories but the endings were new to him as he’d usually fell asleep somewhere between the middle.

He heard someone’s footsteps, and turned around, Katya’s face was beaming with excitement and her eyes traveled around the shelves, she smiled at him. “I am glad that you are trying to learn by yourself.”

Ivan nodded, burying his face in the book again.

“You know that Roderich has quit, right?”

He hummed, going through the pages quickly until Katya’s hand stopped him, she closed the book. “Now I have to find another tutor.”

“Good, I didn’t like him anyway.” Ivan opened the book again, an illustration of a tower engulfed in flames could be seen, a cloud of smoke rising above, soldiers nearing the place, following a general that pointed towards the fire but what got him interested was the clock hanging on the horse reins, it looked like a strange detail to add.

Katya shook his shoulder, raising her voice. “Why do you try to make things harder for me?” 

”You brought him from a foreign land and expected me to discuss philosophy and literature with someone who only deems his culture as valid. I asked him about the arts of magic and he evaluated that knowledge as “basic and plain”, everything I do is wrong because it’s not refined or modern.”

She took the book from him, glancing at the pages and rolling her eyes. “Perhaps it is plain, we have to make a lot of changes, you like this library, I picked the books based on their advances and we can’t rely on magic because we know nothing about it, this library was filled with old books, full of dust and cobwebs.”

Ivan frowned. “Katya, we don’t even know what the laboratory is for, Where are the older books?”

“Some were burned, others were gifted and I left the one’s father used in his office. I spared the one you are holding because I know how much you treasure it but I regret doing so, these fairytales are useless.”

“Those fairytales are part of our history, Katya. You can’t erase that.”

Ivan glanced down at the book, scowling. He'd have to search in his father’s office, the place gave him chills, not only figuratively but literally, it was the coldest room in the palace, even Katya refused to stay in there longer than necessary. 

Her voice was thunderous, echoing in the library, she was showing him the same illustration from earlier. “We can’t keep looking back, look where that has brought us! Two reigns of constant war, we can change that, we already did.”

Ivan looked at her intently, her eyes were tearing up. He stood up, taking the book from her and embraced her, she hugged back tightly. 

Her voice shook as she tried to keep herself from sobbing. “I’m sorry-”

“It’s fine, Katya. I was behaving poorly today”

She sighed, turning to the table and smiling again. “No, Feliks was difficult. You have my permission to insult him next time.” she glanced at the book again and chuckled, pointing at the drawing, “that looks like father’s clock”

Ivan nodded, feeling a prickle of regret at the mention of it.

As they were walking together into the hall, Tolys approached them, bowing slightly and addressing Yekaterina. “Some of the guests are planning to leave and Lady Natalya is asking for you.” 

Katya hurried off to talk with Natalya, leaving Ivan without a word. He stood awkwardly with Tolys, next to a window, Ivan tried to seem interested in the view. 

A familiar man greeted him, this was prince Vladimir, the last time they’d seen each other he was signing his loss and accepting the terms of the repositions. 

He had a sly smile on his face, his eyes standing out for their strange almost reddish color. “I see that you are just as superstitious as your father, I don’t know if I should feel flattered or offended,”

Ivan frowned, staring back, it was strange how he talked with such confidence towards him. “Excuse me, I do not know what you are talking about.”

He snickered, glancing outside of the window. “You didn’t have to wear silver to meet me. Be coherent with your sister's words, there must be a bit of trust between all of us.”

Ivan took out the clock and showed it to him, smiling slightly at the other. “Oh, you mean this?”

Vladimir stepped back, frowning and glaring at him. “I… I advise you to clean that… as well as the wolf,”

“Pardon me?”

“Holly water won’t erase those stains,” his red eyes glinted mischievously, he darted away without other word.

Ivan felt uneasy, he glanced at his hands and the clock, it kept on marching consistently, the silver artifact was completely clean.

He put it back on his pocket, flinching when Tolys placed a hand on his shoulder. ”Do not pay him any heed, your majesty. Vladimir has always been a bit strange, he used to claim to be a vampyre.”

Ivan nodded slowly, shaking his head. “Tolys what happened to the girl?”

The brunette shrugged. “I escorted her out as you asked.”

“I need you to bring her back.” Tolys’ eyes were questioning but he didn’t utter a word. Ivan averted his gaze. “I made a mistake, it is only fair that I apologize.”

* * *

The moonlight sipped through the window, barely illuminating the delicate hands moving mechanically, blue eyes darted from the wooden door to the window. Natalia was observing quietly, her silent and patient demeanor were the key of her existence, without them, she would have gone crazy a long time ago. Ignoring the dearest person to her was not easy.

Natalia focused on the handkerchief and the needle on her hands, a haunting thought made her heart clench, what if he didn’t love her? what was her purpose if she failed in the only thing she had to fulfill?

Shaking her head, she glanced down, trying to embroider a sun as she was instructed to do, her mother said activities like knitting and embroidery were relaxing but she was desperate, she wanted to tear the kerchief apart and run away.

A sight escaped from her, she would not keep following her mother’s instructions, she came back to her task, mind and heart in it, patience, she reminded herself, doing stitch after stitch, changing the thread, humming to herself, stealing a glance to the moon, and returning to her work, placing a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, and adding the final touches to it.

When it was finished, she smiled to herself, proud of her work an embroidered sunflower with delicate leaves around it, making it seem like it was falling, she folded the kerchief, and placed it in a little box alongside some letters. 

She heard footsteps in the hallway, could it be that he wanted to talk with her? Natalya waited patiently but the footsteps grew further away, she opened the door slowly, barely catching the sight of Feliks and behind him a nervous looking Tolys, he glanced to his sides before disappearing from her view.

Natalya frowned and closed her door again, she would not give him more letters, they didn’t work, words were meaningless, she had to show him she was useful, loyal and brave, she had scared him and she knew it, he was avoiding her. So, she’d be his eyes outside of the palace, she’ll keep those two under her gaze, and if necessary, she’d interviene, that way he’d realize the truth, that she loved him even if it meant to separate from him. She would assure him her devotion.


	9. Entitlement

Tolys walked down the hallway, the air was filled with a delicious, sweet smell. 

The kitchen was a neglected place in the palace, after the queen’s death, only the servants would frequent it. 

He wasn’t enthusiastic either, the place was beautiful and neat, the utensils shined, lined up in perfect order but the walls weren’t designed for a kitchen, the heat would enclose itself, overwhelming whoever entered the place. 

A tall man stood by the counter, facing away from him, concentrated in the rhythmic chopping of vegetables, his broad figure seemed foreign, more suitable for a battlefield or a plantation, but the last feast had showed Tolys how much work it meant to be a chef in the palace, those large animals meant for feeding the royalty wouldn’t cook themselves. He felt relieved knowing that he’s duties were easier.

He stood awkwardly by the door, clearing his throat. “I need your help, you know almost everyone here, and there is this girl I need to find.”

The chopping stopped, the man turned to acknowledge his presence, arching an eyebrow. “I’m busy, I’ve lost the help I had in here, you’ll have to ask the maids or something.”

Tolys watched the man, his quick movements as to resume his task. “Perhaps you know her-”

The man frowned, annoyance coating his words. “Look, I have work to do, I can’t help you with your romances.”

“Sadik, you don’t have to stop your task-”

“well, tell me her name-”

Embarrassment overwhelmed Tolys, he had no clue as how to find her. “I… I do not know her,” He cursed Ivan mentally, how could he sent him without information, it was a waste of time, he hoped the outburst from the garden was enough to describe her, “She’s uh, she has brown hair, she was scolded yesterday, by the prince...”

“For the love of-” Sadik’s face changed, he left the knife in the counter, “Look, throwing her out of here was enough, what’s with the royals and their persecutions?”

“He wants to apologize, nothing more if you could tell me-”

“Since when does a prince care about what a servant thinks of him?”

Tolys faltered, he had the same question but taking care of this request as soon as he could would assure him the rest of the day with Feliks “I’m just trying to do my job, I don’t question his intentions.” 

Sadik turned his back on him, his tone harsh “You should.”

Tolys glanced around, the oven was lit, a smoky smell coming out of it. “I believe his words, she could be back and you’d have less work”

The man cursed, hurrying to the oven and taking out a tray, sweet overtaking the smoky smell. Not meeting his gaze, Sadik answered. “I will tell her that you are looking for her, it’ll be up to her if she comes or not. Tell your prince that his cake is ruined, though, he wouldn’t care, they are leaving today. Shouldn’t you be there?”

Tolys gasped, leaving the kitchen hurriedly, he had a couple of days for this but he was caught up clearing his time to remember that they’d be leaving today for the ball, his nervousness increased but he slowed his pace, would they care if he didn’t bid them goodbye? Probably not.

He reached the entrance, a carriage was prepared, he saw Natalya crushing her fiancé in a hug, Tolys chuckled at the display in front of him, as Ivan patted her back awkwardly, prying her off. 

Tolys didn’t understand why Ivan was so weary of her, but he served as distraction when he could, he lowered his head not bearing Natalya’s gaze. 

The prince shook his shoulder lightly and asked, “Did you find her?”

He could see Natalya glaring at him. He shook his head. 

Ivan sighed, handing Tolys an envelope, “Deliver this” before he could answer, the prince turned away, Natalya following him. 

Feliks was standing near them, not hiding his amusement, he waved in his direction. They engaged in small talk while everything was arranged.

When the carriage left, Tolys couldn’t help but feel uneasy, Natalya was digging knives in his back, and he wondered why was she acting like that, after all she used to ignore his presence all along. 

She approached, frowning deeply, her blue eyes were cold, and Tolys was reminded of the king. “Give me the letter.” she fumed. 

The brunette blinked, looking down at the envelope, “But-”

“Give me the letter” She demanded again.

Feliks chuckled, taking the envelope from him and presenting it to Natalya, she snatched it from his hand and walked away. 

Tolys eyes widened and he fidgeted with his hands. “Feliks!”

The blonde shrugged, smiling mischievously. “Let her take it, in the worst case, Ivan has written a love letter and she’ll read it, perhaps we can get rid of her. Now, we leave before she notices.”

Tolys followed him, each step that took him further away from the palace gave him a sense of entitlement. 

A feeling that had vanished since his parents died, since he served that first tea for Yekaterina, shaking uncontrollably and spilling it, although she had been understanding and assured him he’d be safe, Tolys couldn’t shake off the uneasiness he felt in his heart. 

All this time he had been following their commands, lowering his head and nodding at their words.

Walking hurriedly while taking Feliks hand was refreshing, he was doing something he wanted, he wasn’t another servant in the palace, he wasn’t another of their properties, he was just Tolys, he was fooling around not working.

A smile grew on his lips, as they reached the city, he deserved this small moment of happiness. 

* * *

Alfred couldn’t believe they had arrived.

He glanced around, the surroundings hitting him with a wave of unfamiliarity and dullness, this was nothing as he had imagined Gilbert’s hometown to be. 

He expected a grandiose city with tall churches and monuments, a palace taken out of a fairytale pages. Instead, they had entered a vast territory of rural areas that seemed concerningly empty, and reached a central city overflowing with people, small houses and numerous factories.

Stone paths ran like a gray river throughout the city, forming a maze that not even Arthur was able to explain, the sky was covered with gray clouds, although Alfred could have sworn it was smoke. 

The people walked hurriedly in the streets, they weren’t greeting each other warmly, these people seemed apathetic towards their own neighbours and the newcomers, paying a small disinterested look at their carriage before turning away.

The palace was made of stone, its presence overwhelmed with the antique vibe it gave, Alfred smiled to himself, the architects of his kingdom were better, this palace looked more like an old fortress, stone and steel coating every inch of the place, he hoped the interior to be more welcoming. 

Alfred opened the carriage door with ease, stepping out, his legs were numb. He dreaded these long trips. 

A familiar voice called out. “The little knight has grown!” Gilbert greeted him at the entrance, reaching out his hand for Alfred to shake.

Before Alfred could respond, Arthur scolded. “At least help your sister out, where are your manners Alfred?”

Gilbert smiled, reaching out his hand for Madelaine. “Arthur, I see you kept your bitter attitude. How is he treating you, young lady?”

Alfred stared at them, Madelaine laughed at his remark while Arthur scoffed. 

A prickle of jealousy ran over Alfred, his sister managed to maintain a close relationship with Arthur, the latter taking time from his duties to give her lessons while he just dumped a bunch of books in Alfred’s desk each day. 

A conversation about the gardens started, rolling his eyes at their formal behaviour, he kept quiet.

Half of their day was spent in casual chatting, Gilbert showed them around. 

When they got out for a stroll, Alfred managed to stay back with Gilbert, he was telling him about Roderich and making fun of him for quitting his job and returning,

“I knew he couldn’t do it. He is too refined for being a tutor, apparently, the kid got on his nerves but the last straw was when this kid decided he had enough of Roddy’s lectures.” Gilbert chuckled, slowing his pace to mimic Alfred’s. “This kid, I think he is older than you by a year or so, he’s got a bad temper just like his father,”

Gilbert glanced around, his smile grew, Alfred recognized his mocking tone.“I do not blame him, would you like to be bossed around by some foreigner while you are supposed to become the king?” 

Alfred frowned at his words, shaking his head, Gilbert knew why he was staying behind, he was reminding Alfred of his goal, wasn’t he? of course he was, he had gotten his letters, he knew his plan. 

Alfred met his eyes, feeling confident. “Where is Ludwig?”

Gilbert eyes scanned him, he shook his head. “You are eager to meet my brother, aren’t you? It’s a shame, he’s too busy right now, we have to do a lot of changes, this ball adds more pressure into him than I first thought.”

Disappointment coated Alfred’s thoughts, all this had been for nothing? He sighed. “Changes?”

“Yes, you saw the city, we have to tend to the people’s needs, we don’t want a shortage of food, this war has taken a toll on everybody, we have to reactive trades, why do you think we offered to host your little party?”

Alfred nodded, lowering his eyes.“So, you’d be opposed to start another war?”

“That is a stupid question, Alfred. Nobody wants to start a war, not even a battle. You do not start a war, it just happens. What you do is prepare in case of one, and if you have arguments to hold your statements, if you give us reasons to be concerned, then, you’ll have our help. If I were you, I’d take care of my own problems before sticking my nose in another Kingdom.”

“But you could get more resources, if we win their land, their people would be ours, that means natural resources and manpower.”

Gilbert halted, looking at him curiously before smirking.“You’ve been paying attention, that’s good,” His red eyes seemed to ponder for a moment, glancing forward, Arthur was watching them. “Enough plotting for today” he whispered, “let’s get some food! There is someone who wants to see you”

* * *

Arthur had been watching closely, he sensed something was wrong, it annoyed him not knowing what.

Alfred had been eager to arrive, behaving better each day and preparing himself, for a while, Arthur held the small hope that it wasn’t an act, that Alfred was willing to listen to him. After the outburst in that meeting, Arthur tried to console the boy. 

“I am not your father, Alfred, but you are not alone either.” That’s what he had told him. He remembered how the boy had cried, his reluctance to believe his words but that day, Alfred had stopped locking himself away, he left the library open, he asked Arthur for advise. 

He wanted to help him, to protect them. Alfred wanted knowledge and Arthur tried to provide him the tools, perseverance is a noble trait, one that Alfred needed to learn.

When the boy complained about being bored, Arthur didn’t know what to do, he had been raised to be independent, but Alfred was always nagging him with questions, with requests, getting mad when he wasn’t given the answer.

In a coward act of neglection, Arthur had told him to “find teachers and friends that provided him with discussions and new discoveries.” when in reality he did so because Alfred’s questions were new to him, he didn’t know how to solve his problems, but somehow that advise had helped.

For Alfred, it was easier to engage in conversation with others than to stare at an old book for hours, the topics were engraved in Alfred’s mind more easily if he attended and participated in the scientific fairs and see the experiments himself. 

Alfred’s curiosity was enlarged and fed while Arthur observed from afar. He had turned the stubborn child into a man of science and Alfred’s deeds filled him with happiness, who wouldn’t take pride in such development?

Ironically, it was a bittersweet achievement, how could he, who had been raised by magic holders, raise this kid to be so eskeptic and reject any form of magic with scientific hypothesis? 

Alfred showed little respect for him and his beliefs, anytime he approached the topic Alfred would enter a state of fierce denial. But now, that they were heading back to the palace, he was acting different, he had glued himself to Gilbert, and the latter was very much rubbing it in Arthur’s face but the boy seemed disappointed. Could it be that this trip had discouraged him from his scientific dreams?

Arthur barely noticed they had been led into the dinning room, only an annoyingly familiar voice took him out of his thoughts. 

“My dear Madelaine, you look beautiful!”

Arthur glared at the speaker, why was Francis here.

The man was giving the twins a crushing hug, smiling brightly. “And Alfred, you’ve grown so much” 

When he met Arthur’s gaze his smile faded. “You took too long in that stroll, I was waiting for hours!”

Arthur ignored him, taking a seat in the table. Francis kept a conversation with the twins, Alfred seemed way too happy to see that man, and Arthur fought not to acknowledge the growing jealousy in him. 

The meals were served and Prince Ludwig accompanied them, the boy was overly formal, he seemed older than he actually was and behaved better than his older brother. 

Alfred seemed to regain his cheerful attitude, questioning about the city, finding common ground with Ludwig as they shared their enthusiasm for science. 

Around the afternoon, they had been sitting in the main hall, listening to Roderich play the piano as Madeline observed him closely. 

Some servants entered to announce that a carriage had arrived.

Gilbert cursed. “They weren’t supposed to be here so early.” 

A single glance to the window was enough for Arthur to know who it belonged to, the blue tones and the engravings gave off their identity. 

Alfred offered to go with Gilbert and Ludwig to greet the guests, and Arthur’s heartbeat grew faster, he approached Francis and urged him to keep an eye on Alfred. 

As he watched them leave, Arthur stood by the window, looking intently at the carriage, the doors were opened and he saw the figure of a man stepping out, Arthur was sure this was the prince, he held out his hand an a blonde woman stepped out, their resemblance was unmistakable. 

To Arthur’s surprise, nobody else went out of the carriage. Could it be that their father refused the invitation?

The boy was older than Alfred but the way the woman treated him, gave off the idea of who was the oldest sibling.

While she had a gentle expression in her face, he had an unnerving aura, a chill run down his spine when he saw Alfred shaking his hand. 

Arthur felt a gush of cold wind behind his neck. Emerald eyes found themselves locking their gaze with a pair of violet eyes.


	10. Realization

The music filling the room seemed like a lullaby, relaxing her mind, perhaps a little too much, her eyelids were heavy but she forced herself to stay awake. 

There was only one voice in the room, Gilbert was talking incessantly, she had tried to pay attention but he gave no room to intervene and his constant rambling had confused her. 

Yekaterina felt uneasy, since their arrival, Arthur kept on staring at her brother, their greeting had been strained, the green eyed man stuttering his words and keeping his distance. 

As if on cue, she turned her head to see green eyes scanning her before averting their gaze.

She shifted on her seat, glancing at her brother, his eyes were fixed on Gilbert and his expression was relaxed. He seemed at ease, interested in the conversation. 

Guilt invaded her as she reached for his hand, trying to steal his attention from the others, it was strange to see him comfortable while she felt out of place.

Back in their home, she’d be the one in control of the situation, but here, she was just as useful as a vase of flowers. The memory of her father saying that she was condemned to look pretty and stay silent while the men talked, played in her head over and over. 

The thought made her smile bitterly, if only he had known that she'd take his place after his death, everything was working because of her. The men that gathered here knew nothing about governing, they only blurted out whatever was on their minds and made it seem as if the sunrise was their doing. The worst part of this, was that her hard work would go unnoticed, all the credit would go to her father or Ivan. 

Gilbert stood up, moving his chair in the process, the wooden floor screeching in protest. 

Yekaterina jerked her head sharply, clenching Ivan’s hand tightly, a gasp escaping her lips. 

Laughter erupted in the room, breaking the calm atmosphere. Yekaterina felt observed, her face grew warm, she was aware of her blushing cheeks.

The melody of the piano stopped abruptly as a familiar voice reproached. “Gilbert, do not make fun of our guests!”

The white haired man smiled, “I’m just trying to keep them awake, your music is boring them”

Katya smiled shyly as she saw Roderich gasp, his eyes glaring at Gilbert before approaching them. “Apologies, I failed to warn you about my annoying cousin.”

“It’s fine, it’s getting quite late, isn’t it Katya?” Ivan dismissed with his hand, looking at her.

She nodded, feeling a thumb rubbing her hand, her brother was soothing her. “We should rest.” 

Yekaterina’s smile vanished as the warmth from his hand disappeared. 

“Go ahead, I’ll stay for a bit.”

A wave of uneasiness overtook her. Stepping back, her eyes locked with his, pleading without words for a bit of company, to her dismay, he nodded, ushering her to walk away and follow the servant.

His behaviour surprised her, he promptly ignored her to formulate a question to the others, Katya paid no heed to his words, glaring daggers at his back. 

Her footsteps resounded in the room, the wooden floor testifying to the betrayal she was a victim of. 

The quiet, sweet voice of another woman reached her ears as she was crossing the doorframe. “There are three ways to evoke magic from outside, if you think about it, it is simple, all comes down to the division between body, mind and soul that the philosophers had tried to understand.” 

Katya looked back, seeing the youthful face of Madeleine light up with joy as she uttered the words, gaining the attention of everyone around her. 

Her sweet voice quivered as she continued. “What they have gotten wrong is not the content but the form of it, they claim there is a division when in reality, it is all part of the same entity, or do we as humans, possess only our bodies when our minds are not working?” The young girl paused, averting her gaze and fidgeting with her hands.   
  


Katya noticed the faint blush that tinted Madeline’s cheeks when Ivan nodded, acknowledging her statement and requesting her to elaborate. 

Yekaterina glared at the display in front of her, walking hastily down the hallway, the moonlight illuminating through the spacious windows reminded her of home, a heavy weight settled on her chest. Homesickness she thought. She wanted to be back at their palace, to stare at familiar surroundings, to smile at familiar faces.

Instead, she was presented to a spacious dormitory, everything neatly arranged, even her luggage had been placed.

She paused under the door frame, frowning, further away, in the long corridor, she could hear them laughing. 

The pang of jealousy that awoke in her heart kept her from sleeping. 

How could Vanya adapt so easily when she was the one supposed to lead him? was it possible that he had something she lacked? Was it his divine right, to be a ruler, a king, while she just stayed back? no matter how hard she tried to keep up, it would never be enough.

_But not even their father wanted Ivan to take on the throne._

Katya gasped as this thought crossed her mind, hiding her head with the covers. How could she doubt? she had no right to judge him.

She shifted in the bed, jealousy becoming guilt. She wasn't mad at her brother, she could never hold a grudge against him, what was really worrying her was the impotence of becoming a burden. If she could not help him around, what was her purpose?

She had no friends, no fiance, she only had her brother but what would she do when the crown was passed onto him? When he finally married Natalya, why would she stay with them? Where would she go?

This reunion had shown her that she had nowhere else to go besides her brother's side and instead of feeling relieved, she felt uneasy.

The wooden floor cracked, slow footsteps echoed outside, Yekaterina got on his feet opening the door rapidly.

A scared servant stepped back but she ignored him, focusing on her brother’s dumbfounded face. 

She held her hands together in her chest, her lips quivered while she tried to form a coherent phrase but her mouth refused to obey her brain. 

Letting out a shaky breath, a sob escaped her. A pair of arms enveloped her, tears fell from her eyes as she wept. There were a lot of words she wanted to say, a plea for assurance that went unsaid as the only words she could mutter were “I can’t sleep.”

* * *

Ivan tried not to frown.

The day wasn’t going as planned. Yekaterina and him had overslept, barely managing to be present at breakfast. 

Once there, he had to bear with Gilbert’s complains as he had missed the early hunt they had appointed, he even dared to pick at him by saying that “sometimes a warrior starts shaking at the sight of a mighty oponent” Ivan decided to ignore the insult for the sake of the meal and the fact that he was glad for missing such activity, fox hunting wasn’t his strength and Gilbert’s insistence to show off his “awesome” skills annoyed him, it would have been a stupid way to engage them in rivalry.

His father’s words had proved to be wise again, one should not outdo the host. The cocky grin that Alfred held, let him know that he had made the kill, but Gilbert’s attention to him had vanished, focusing on Katya instead.

Ivan wasn’t sure of what irked him more, the strange and sudden aproach he was making to his sister, making silly jokes and even sitting beside her or Gilbert’s loud voice, his constant rambling made Ivan wonder if the knight was trying to either torture or tease him. 

He had been talking since breakfast, maintaining a one sided conversation about his military deeds, if Ivan didn’t know better he would have passed them out as lies, the quantity of details was overwhelming and his erratic storytelling confused him. 

In an outburst of laughter, the white haired man had ushered them to take a walk and get fresh air. 

The only one matching Gilbert’s liveliness was Alfred, understandable as he retired early. The group seemed to march slowly after their lead. 

Ivan walked lethargically, at least Katya could not blame him. The trip had been long and she had kept him awake with her worries. They had wanted to make a good impression and auto sabotaged it by not getting enough rest.

A quick glance to the others showed him that he wasn’t the only one close to exhaustion. King Arthur was staying behind, it wasn’t that surprising taking into account the quantity of wine he had last night. 

He had never been so glad to retire in order to get properly dressed for a fancy reunion. 

Even Katya seemed relieved, the anxious expression she wore, changed into excitement while they walked down the hallway.

Yekaterina had brought a servant to help her as she didn’t trust their host’s arrangements. 

Ivan wasn’t sure of how to feel about it, the servant was really young, the kid’s movements were unsure and he kept on trembling and mumbling nonsense when he addressed him. 

He couldn’t believe he was thanking his father for raising him harshly, but taking into account the situation, he was happy he could dress himself instead of relying on the servants.

After a couple of minutes of having dressed, Ivan was considering changing back his clothes. The fabrics, although beautiful, were heavy, no matter how much he had tried on the clothes at their palace, he still felt as if the layers of clothes wanted to suffocate him, how could his father manage to stay focused in those fancy meetings and ceremonies? Surely he hadn’t suffered this suplice in a warmer weather. 

A soft knock was audible, his sister whispering. “Vanya, it’s me. Open.”

Yekaterina entered, her dress trailing behind her, her face slightly flushed.

Ivan gave her a small amused smile. “Did you also realize the mistake we made?”

“Yes, “ Her saddened tone made Ivan feel guilty, Katya was sure to be more uncomfortable than him. 

She pouted, caresing the skirt of the dress with her gloved fingers, revealing a glimerish object adorning one. “ but I’m not here for that. I almost forgot this.” 

Ivan grimaced at the sight, she was holding that old silver clock, he had made sure to “forget it at home” when they left but apparently his sister had other plans. 

“I do not want to wear that.”

She shook her head, placing the clock on his hands. “Don’t be silly, I also took our mother’s ring, they will help us, it makes me less nervous.”

Ivan’s worries about fainting due to the heat, were replaced with uneasiness and the soft ticking sound that escorted him. 

Although the dancing hall was beautiful and tidy, the throne looked old and somber, he could understand why Ludwig didn’t stay too long there. Ivan had once heard his mother complain about the plainness of the middle Kingdom, but he blamed that perception on her eccentricity with ornaments. 

Yekaterina clung to his side as they were approached by King Arthur, his sister took the lead of the conversation, only to be abruptly interrupted by King Ludwig who was starting the ceremonial speech.

It was strange, Gilbert had the looks of a monarch, at least he had the age to assume the power, but it was Ludwig who was in charge, or seemingly in charge. Ivan thought they all shared a similar situation, it was futile to deny it, they were all boys playing under the suvervilliance of an older sibling. 

Focusing on Ludwig, he saw his serious expression, his stiff posture while he uttered the last lines of his discourse. “I expect that this ceremony marks the beginning of a powerful alliance and more importantly, the first steps of a new friendship,”

Ivan took a long breath, this was the crucial moment of the night, even when the armistice had already been arranged, they had to repeat the signing, a symbolic public gesture between the Kingdoms. Alfred and him had to sign, for the rest of the citizens to see or at least hear about the commitment they acquired. 

This was the moment that had Katya praying to their parents for help, they had to act as the earthly embodiment of a god. The problem was, Ivan was no god, he was as ordinary as the rest of the attendants, he was nervous but above that, he was scared.

He didn’t want to admit it, but his father had been right all along, he wasn’t capable of doing this, he was too clumsy, too self aware.

Alfred’s eyes were piercing him, the laid back attitude from before had vanished, his friendly smile replaced with a frown. 

For the first time since he arrived, Ivan acknowledged the blue eyes that had been haunting him, blue eyes that were too similar with the ones he saw in the firebird, the only difference was that now, these blue eyes held a burning hatred instead of a fading disappointment.

_“I should have gone after him.”_ Ivan turned back sharply, that voice was unmistakable but the horrid ghost was nowhere to be seen. 

His uneasiness increased but he managed to go through the signing without messing it up, as they were shaking hands, a shiver ran down his body, a soft whisper from Alfred. “Tyrant.”

Ivan’s hand tightened his hold, forcing himself to smile at the other, ignoring the harsh glare and the scornful smile of Alfred.

When they finished, Ivan retreated to his sister’s side, her face told him that the act had been convincing. 

They were chatting amiably, the melody of Roderich’ music filled the awkward silences that occurred. Even though the man still seemed to hold a grudge against him, he couldn’t deny he was talented, such a shame he didn’t show his skills before. 

Gilbert stood proudly, next to the throne, his military attire seemed more comfortable than his brother’s royal clothes. The medals hanging on his chest gleamed everytime he moved, challenging and sometimes eclipsing the centrality that his brother’s crown should have. 

_A raspy voice whispered in his ear “Are you jealous?”_

He shook his head, his heart hammering frantically, could it be that it was his own mind mocking him? Impossible, that wasn’t his voice. 

A cold weight settled on his shoulders, he refused to look back, to acknowledge the oppressive presence that pushed him down. 

It wasn’t a lie, he _was_ secretly jealous of his aptitude to gain everyone’s attention, Gilbert was someone one would keep an eye on, no matter the setting, the ease with which he raised his cup and made everyone in the room fell silent, waiting for his words, was proof of the respect they held for him.

Gilbert’s voice was firm, almost solemn, lacking the mocking tone it had in the morning. “Seeing that we are all reunited, I should tell you about the master plan I have.” His red eyes scanned the guests as a smile formed on his lips. 

He tasted his wine and continued. “In order to elevate the greatness of the middle Kingdom, my brother and I, have outlined an ambitious plan, to increase the living standard of our people, to maintain and even exceed the glorious reputation of our lineage. It involves the effort of everyone, including our closest neighbours. Cooperation and more importantly, loyalty, are what we ask of you.”

The silvery voice spoke again, Ivan could feel the cold creeping on his bones. _“Did you hear? That pride shall be broken with a hideous defeat.”_

Ivan allowed himself to frown, glancing at his side, Arthur was meeting his gaze, knitting his eyebrows. 

Gilbert shook with a short laughter, his voice returning to his usual tone. “Loyalty, my dear monarchs as we placed our faith in your capability to outcome conflict and maintain peace. Any disruption with such a simple task will result in our downfall. So, I want you to take this act of generosity as proof of our good will as Kingdom but also as a reminder of this pact, this act of trust that will be rewarded in the future if you hold your word.”

A wave of claps and the toast was made, the music resumed and the dance started. 

He saw Alfred taking hesitant steps before approaching them, a small smile on his lips as he barely acknowledged him to talk with Katya instead.

Ivan had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, if he was bad at talking with women, Alfred was illiterate at it, he had lamely praised her dress. Nevertheless, Katya had beamed with joy as she was complimented.

“That is a nice discourse, don’t you think so?” The voice surprised him, making him flinch again, but this time, the speaker was different, it carried an unmistaken bitterness, proof that he had understood what Gilbert words meant. Distrust was coating the green eyes that were watching him closely. 

Ivan nodded slowly, the coldness slowly vanishing. “A very clear warning.”

* * *

Tolys fidgeted with the sleeves of his coat, a sharp blow of cold breeze hit his face, he tried to cover his cheeks with a scarf but the merciless wind kept on unmasking him. 

The few boats that remained were giant pieces of steel, designed with those horrid sharp edges to break through the icy waters with ease. If he could choose an object to represent this Kingdom, it would surely be one of these boats, they reminded him of the way they had broken through his home, like a thunderous monster, sinking and shattering everything that dared to cross their way, 

Instead, they had picked a beautiful and frail-looking snowflake. it was strange, when he thought of snowflakes the image of winter with his family filled his memories, the small white dots coating the floor while he laughed and ran around trying to catch them before they touched the ground, but in a matter of a few years, Tolys had grown to despise that specific snowflake, the one engraved in every inch of the palace, he was sick of seeing it everywhere, even on the town he saw small children with hair clippers that held that godforsaken snowflake. 

A shiver went through his bones as he looked up to meet that snowflake again, this time, in the lonely flag that waved furiously as they neared the harbor, he glanced at Feliks, trying to question him but the blonde paid no attention. 

Feliks greeted the men that disembarked one of the ships, none of them glanced or talked to him, they were using an unknown language, carrying boxes of goods and what Tolys assumed was fish.

In another ship a numerous group was talking loudly, even when he couldn’t understand, Tolys knew they were cursing. Shovels beat against the thick layer of ice covering the keel, the men’ faces coated with frustration as they watch the ice fall and break, only to be replaced quickly with another layer, like a swarm of white, icy bees that goes solid in a matter of seconds and leaves the cold surface untouched. 

As Feliks stopped and greeted, gaining no attention, the blond huffed, raising his voice. “I demand to speak to the captain!” 

The statement made the men pause, a strong voice with a mocking tone replied. “This is a foreign ship, we are simply delivering, you have no jurisdiction over us.”

“I do not come on behalf of the ruler. My name is Feliks Lukasiewicz, prince of- .”

The same voice from before interrupted. “It is nice to place a face and voice to your letters, come, we’ll talk in private.” A tall blonde man approached them, shaking Feliks’ hand vigorously. His blue eyes scrutinized them before smirking and motioning them to follow. 

Tolys glanced behind, the people around them seemed to ignore them, he hesitantly marched after Feliks, the icy wind biting his skin while his hands shook. 

His green eyes widened at the sight of the two ravens engraved on the head steel of the ship and he couldn’t stop his body from shaking. The foreign language that the men were talking gained sense to him, he couldn’t understand, but he could recognize it from the last banquet held.

Tolys wondered what would resist more, the ice or the steel.


	11. Glare

Natalya ran her hands down the soft fabric, these days the sun had been shining with all his might, giving her the opportunity to try on her summer dresses, she paced around the room, giving a couple of glances to the window.

The distant trees were rumbling, she frowned, she didn’t want to lose her hat if the wind was blowing hard, she had prepared all morning but the weather didn’t seem to understand her worries. 

A brown haired man caught her attention, the servant was unmistakably familiar, his hasty steps and constant fidgeting gave away his identity. 

Natalya stepped closer to the window, seeing him stand by the gate, chatting with one of the guards in there, she tried to make out their conversation with no avail, barely able to see the guard shaking his head, a negation, of what she didn’t know. 

She was walking down the stairs when the servants’ whispers grew louder, a soldier alerting the others of the arrival. 

When the gates were opened, she was already by the entrance, the horses lowered their galloping until the carriage came to a stop, Natalya wondered why they were missing a horse. 

She shook away her thoughts, forcing herself to smile as naturally as she could. She glanced down at her gloved hands, intertwining her fingers, she would not run to him as he had disliked the act before. Smile,wave from afar and wait to see if he greets you, that’s what she kept on saying to herself, like a mantra. 

When the carriage door was opened, her heart leaped, she watched as Yekaterina emerged, smiling and lifting her skirt with a huff. “Natalya, that is such a lovely dress.”

Natalya’s smile faltered, she hurried to the carriage, ignoring Yekaterina’s greeting and peeking into it, her eyes met the empty carriage, glancing around, a growing frustration overtook her. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned sharply, meeting Tolys’ face, a sheeply smile on his face. “Lady Natalya, the prince has stayed back in the city, he’ll come later.”

The words only caused her to shake with anger, all her effort and her waiting were in vain. She turned on her heel and walked behind Yekaterina, mumbling her greeting. 

The friendly smile she gave her, soothed her anger, Yekaterina reminded her of her father, always calm, though, her eyes always carried a speck of fear, of what? she could not know, and she wasn’t curious enough to ask. 

Her soft voice took her out of her train of thought, “I’m happy to be back, What were you up to, Natalya?”

“Not much, My mother already left, I stayed back in order to welcome you.” It wasn’t a lie, there wasn’t much she could do in the palace when they were out, exchanging letters with her father and walking around was all she had done, apart from delivering that stupid letter. 

Natalya, pursued her lips, following Yekaterina silently. 

“He stayed back in the city, I don’t know how to scold him anymore, after the ceremony he got considerably inebriated,” She sighed, pausing her steps and chuckling, “It wasn’t too bad, at least Ivan just sulks in his seat,” Yekaterina shook her head and added. “if you had seen Gilbert or Arthur you’d understand.”

Natalya nodded, “He stayed back so I wouldn’t notice?”

Yekaterina’s smile fell, ”I uh, I doubt so, he was fairly well, said he had something to do in the city, I didn’t ask because I don’t think I want to know” She laughed weakly, “My father always said that I should not ask too many questions,”

Natalya frowned, Yekaterina was always secretive, not disclosing details, did she not trust her? “Well, my father would never say that to me, so, I will-.”

Yekaterina’s voice changed abruptly, her face no longer carried a smile. “My brother is tired, leave him alone”

She didn’t wait for a reply, her footsteps echoed in the hallway. 

Natalya looked down, she shouldn't have said that, she mumbled her reply. “I’ll take a walk”

Yekaterina’s voice was soft, perhaps convincing, though Natalya could recognize the hint of derision in it. “Don’t go too far”

* * *

Ivan walked around, receiving curious looks from the villagers, most of them maintained eye contact only to bow their heads when he approached. 

Being greeted by his own subdites had proved to be more difficult than he expected, they were either scared or too humble to talk to him. Asking them directly about Chun Yan seemed to bother them, they all claimed not to know her.

After some time wandering alone, he stumbled upon a group of children, for Ivan it was strange, to see them barefoot, their clothes mended and old looking. 

If he had learned something from his travels was that children were a decent source of local information. Not caring about social etiquette and having almost no filter in their words, they could, sometimes, be of use.

After describing what the servant girl looked like, the group of children were eager to help him find her. Moved by those silly fairy tales they've been told, they misunderstood his intentions, not fearing as their parents for the girl's sake, and giving out details about her possible whereabouts.

He was overwhelmed by their resounding voices, they were bold enough to address him as “the prince”, asking him about his clothes, about his horse and one even requesting to see the crown, as the child had said “every prince should have a crown”. Ivan had to disappoint them, explaining that he did not wear a crown every day. 

They kept him company throughout different spots where the girl was either mistaken for another or not present, Ivan's patience was crumbling after the fifth location and the children kept on asking him nonsensical questions. Once they reached the market, some of the children were scolded and taken away by their mothers with a string of apologies. 

The people seemed to avoid him like the plague, clearing the way and whispering to themselves, he left the horse next to a tree, securing the animal with the reins so it wouldn’t run away, requesting the few unsupervised children to keep an eye on it. 

Ivan was uncomfortable to say the least, being watched from afar by several pairs of eyes as if he were a strange creature, made him nervous. 

The monument adorning the center of the city stood tall, horribly placed, contrasting with the rest of the scenery. It called for attention as it was taller than the houses and structures, an old and faded statue of his grandfather, giving his back to the palace and pointing forward, in the past it had been a beautiful work of art, but now, it was rooting away, it looked like a phantom instead of an acclaimed leader. 

A phantom was a good way to describe his grandfather, though. He was a blank spot of memory to him, he didn't even know his name. Only that he was apparently out of his mind, killed off the magicians of the court, started a war with the neighbouring kingdoms and prosecuted whoever dared to contradict him, even his own wife. No wonder why his father didn't mention him.

After seeing the Middle Kingdom, he could tell that investment on the city itself would pay off in the future, an impoverished population was sure to become a problem later. 

He saw the brunette girl by the monument, seated with his head low, and fidgeting. 

He sighed, approaching slowly. “Did you receive my letter?”

She looked up, meeting his eyes for mere seconds.“Yes, your majesty, you can have it back,” Her voice quivered while she stretched her hand, presenting the envelope.

Ivan frowned, the letter was almost untouched. “Did you even read it?”

She shook her head quickly. “No, but your princess was very kind when she explained what you wanted. Thank you for not beheading me, it is greatly appreciated.”

“What?” Ivan knitted his eyebrows together, was she talking about Natalya?

“She said that I could get back to my duties if I stayed away from your sight, which is what I’m trying but obviously failed.” She stood up, her head low, she presented the letter again, her hand shaking slightly. 

“Who told you that? that’s not what I wrote.”

This time she looked up, placing the letter in his hand and stepping back quickly. “Well, that lady, from the palace, the one that refers to me as a witch, she read it to me.”

Ivan sighed, this was making his headache return. “If you read the letter, I’m sure that you’ll understand. I intend to give you an opportunity to correct your mistakes.”

She fidgeted with her hands, a frown formed on her face “I’m sorry for existing, but I don’t mean any trouble, just let me work, if you want me to beg, I’ll do it, but let me keep my work.” Her voice carried a slight anguish, as she tried to keep her voice steady.

Ivan approached her again, placing the letter on her hands. “Just look at it,”

She glanced at the envelope, not making any move as to open it, her eyes traveled up to meet his gaze wearily.

Ivan fought the urge to snap at her, feeling more observed more than before, he lowered his voice. “It’s an apology, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and I retaliated against you without a reason. I need you to teach me what you know about magic and as a reward for that, I will concede you a title.”

She stayed silent, perhaps pondering on his words, Ivan wasn’t sure, he shifted on his feet, focusing on the surroundings he saw some people averting their gaze and whispering, he held his stare, at least their fear could be of use, to make them ignore this small conversation.

“If I’m going to teach you, you’ll give the title to my brother.”

Ivan looked back, she was meeting his gaze, her face was serious, lacking the fear she had before. He shrugged. “Sure.”

She held the letter tightly in her hand. “You’ll provide him everything that comes with a title, including education and housing.”

He arched an eyebrow, an amused smile forming on his face. “I cannot do that. It is not up to me to take a child into the palace.”

“But you are the king, who else should take that choice?”

At this, he faltered, she was partly right, he was almost the king. Almost, as everyone seemed to believe his father was still alive, as it was Katya handling everything. 

But in theory, he was indeed, the king. A king that was asking the help of a peasant, how humiliating.

_ The silvery voice that followed him around whispered. "Seems like you've finally gained some sense. It was about time." _

Ivan found himself nodding, as if to assure himself or  _ him _ that he knew what that meant. "I will, you shall not disclose this with anyone, not even my sister, or Natalya."

She nodded swiftly, "I will teach you when my brother starts his learning."

Ivan frowned."You are getting too bold and I don't like it" he smiled as her eyes lowered, "we will start tomorrow, at eight."

"I work from six to nine."

Ivan shrugged, "Then nine it is. Just right after breakfast." He declared.

Her voice was hesitant. "Uh, you don't understand your majesty, It's nine after dawn not before."

He stared in disbelief, trying to figure if she was lying. 

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I work with the cook."

Perhaps it was better, Natalya would not follow him around that late. "Fine, sneak a pastry for me then."

She nodded and shifted on her feet, glancing back at the statue. He followed her gaze, his eyes landing on the glare that this marbled man, his grandfather had. A foolish thought crossed his mind, was this statue glaring at him?

Was this glare a constant in his father's life? Perhaps that was why he acted so harshly with him too. Were they doomed into a cycle? 

He shook his head, a monument couldn't glare, it was the guilt of hiding yet another thing from Katya, but what she didn't know wouldn't bother her, right?

* * *

Tolys paced around in the gardens, stealing a glance at the gates every now and then. 

He sighed, there was no way he could foresee Ivan’s arrival, perhaps he had already arrived using another entrance, Tolys frowned, that had no sense. 

The servants like him, entered through either the back or through the small forest, as if they were trespassing the place, Tolys himself hated the forest’ path, it was lonely and somber, he pitied the poor servants that had to take that one at night, it was easy to get lost. The prince would surely use the main entrance, he had taken a horse too, so, it was logical for him to arrive there in order to be received. 

He was taken out of his thoughts as some neighing grew audible, his eyes looking for the animal without avail, a short scream was heard, the voice was undeniably female, Tolys searched for the source of the sounds, they were coming from the small forest, approaching gallops grew louder and Tolys’ heartbeats quickened, his mind telling him to run away from the upcoming danger. 

He managed to take some steps back, the horse was more than visible now, it was coming right at him, his eyes widened as he saw Ivan pull back the reins while the animal halted. 

Tolys slipped back, the soft grass breaking his fall, he could distinguish Ivan’s laughter, the sound made him frown slightly, he stood up, dusting off his clothes. Despite his growing anger, he managed to use a polite tone.“Welcomed back, your majesty,”

Ivan turned to glance at him, his face carrying a slight confusion before he greeted back. “Tolys! it’s good to see you” the horse gave some steps back, turning to the side. Tolys’ eyes widened at the sight of a young girl clutching at Ivan. 

She was hugging him tightly from behind, her eyes closed, as she opened her brown eyes and focused on him, a slight blush settled on her cheeks, she let go quickly from him, staring down. 

“Would you mind helping her down?” Ivan chuckled, “I want to ride the horse a bit more before I face Natalya.” He motioned with his head, he waved and smiled in the direction of the palace.

Tolys glanced back to see Natalya glaring at them from one of the windows, a shudder went down his spine as he imagined the temper she’d throw, though, he didn’t blame her, this situation was beyond strange. 

He hurried to help the scared girl, a sigh escaping him as he saw Ivan leave, he turned to the girl. “What did just happen? You are Chun Yan, right?”

She dusted her dress, and answered with a huff. “He offered to take me back and I accepted, a horrible choice on my part, everyone in the town knows my name now” She scrutinized him, softening her frown, “Were you the one that talked with Sadik?”

Tolys nodded, fidgeting with his hands. His eyes widened at the sudden embrace she gave him. 

She let go of him and smiled. “I don’t know what you told the prince but thank you.” and with that she left.

Tolys could only stand there, he watched as she entered the palace, using the servants doors of course, he glanced up, Natalya was still holding her glare, from the window he saw her blue eyes, blaming him for everything. 

He looked down, clenching his fists at his sides, he had no idea of what was happening, at least not here. He looked away, in the forest, the trees were rumbling, protesting the presence that roamed them, it was so strange, in his time here, not even once he had seen Ivan enter that forest on his own will, he never haunted there, didn’t take strolls or anything alike. 

He sighed, relaxing his posture, a small smile making its way to his face, Natalya could blame him all she wanted, if Ivan had not listened to her before, he would not start doing so now, it seemed like the prince had returned with a challenging spirit, perhaps more aware of the lack of authority in the palace, Tolys hoped that Ivan wouldn’t mind others noticing that flaw either.


	12. Knowledge

A single drop of water fell every now and then, echoing in the small basement, Arthur was sure it had been a dungeon before, for what purpose did the King have a dungeon in his palace? Arthur didn’t want to know. The place was damp, the door’s lock was so rusty, he didn’t have to use a key to open it. 

Inside, the darkness was unbearable, he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, Arthur had to light a candle but it only seemed to worsen the gloomy atmosphere the small room had. 

Cobwebs covered the shelfs, the rusty chains on the floor were sticky, he hoped that the red splotches on them were oxide and not blood, the smell of iron was enclosed after years of not opening the room, Arthur had to breathe slowly so as to not gag. 

The sooner he got to work, the sooner he’d be able to leave. He opened a shelf, a lone spider running away at the sign of him trespassing its home, the books inside were crumpled, the lower ones were wet, his eyes traveled over the faded letters in the covers, putting some over the table, Arthur frowned, that looked more like a dissection table but he had no right to question predecessors, not when he was guilty of usurpation. 

The light flickered slightly, shadows dancing around the scattered books laying on the large table, tha yellow pages and the dusty covers showed the deteriorated state of the texts, Arthur cursed mentally, whoever had the nerve of putting books in here.

So far his search was futile, there was no mention of the creature he saw at the ball. Though his mind had pointed to the obvious label of ‘ghost’, its presence was beyond the forces of a mere spirit. 

The wooden door cracked, the light from the candle merely revealed the person that stood in the entrance, Arthur would have been more cautious but the thunderous laughter that filled the small room was unmistakable.

“I can’t believe you are here, when I said that the old books were in the dungeon, I was joking.”

Arthur didn’t glance back, setting aside another useless book, diary was a better way to describe them, the handwriting was messy, barely legible, though they had some beautiful illustrations, the purpose of that book was merely botanical, nothing he could use. He sighed, a headache beginning to form in his head. “Alfred, why are these books here?”

“Because I said so.”

Arthur turned to him, crossing his arms. “This is not the moment for your games, I need a serious answer.”

Alfred shrugged, looking around, covering his nose with his hand as he entered. “That’s the answer, I got these books from a merchant, he said they were from the royal library in the east, I thought, “royal library of the east” as in books regarding their culture, geography and such, it was a scam, they are diaries from Ivan’s grandfather. What an irony that it is me who acquired them.” He picked up one from the pile, toying with the pages. “This guy should have been an artist, look at how realistic this looks. Do you think it is a self- portrait?”

The page Alfred was showing him was an illustration of a man, his haunting eyes looked directly at the observer, the traces were precise and resembled the same face he saw in the ball, Arthur eyes widened. “Bloody hell, Alfred, you have the best of luck. Let me see.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow, passing the pages rapidly as Arthur observed him with dread. “I found it first, I get to look at the drawings before you do. Look, it’s Yekaterina!” He held the book for him to see again. 

A drawing of a young woman was there, her hair tied in a braid, it was barely a sketch but her face was detailed, her expression was soft, she was smiling.   
At the end of the page, Arthur glanced at what seemed to be a poem, though he couldn’t distinguish all of the words. He sighed. “That’s probably her grandmother.”

Alfred observed the page again, nodding slightly, flickering through the book. “True but the resemblance is astonishing. There are more drawings of her, looks like he really loved her, right?” 

Arthur grimaced, averting his gaze from Alfred. “He kind of killed her.”

The book was dropped on the table, making the pile of unrevised books shake. Alfred’s words held a speck of derision in their tone. “What? No way, is there anyone in that family not a murderous lunatic?”

“I don’t think he meant to do so.”

“What’s on your head, Arthur? Now, the whole notebook filled with portraits of his dead wife, places this guy into a creepier level.”

“Firstly, those portraits might be from before, she is really young in those. Secondly, he didn’t directly kill her, there was a law during his reign that declared all magic related activities forbidden. He didn’t happen to know that she was a sorcerer too. When the rules in the east are upheld, they apply to everyone, without hesitance and without privileges. That Alfred, is why they don’t usually change laws, it can be counterproductive for the royalty. After that incident the law was abolished, probably to save his son from that same fate.”

Alfred frowned, approaching the table. “Why do you know all that?”

“Because that law concerned all magic holders, it was a direct threat that took the lives of thousands, Ludwig’s father applied that law in his early years of reign, the sorcerers in the Middle and East Kingdoms were purged. It is an antecedent for us in the Islands as we received some of the refugees that fled from there.” Arthur took the book and the candle from the table, not bearing the smell of iron anymore, he motioned Alfred to follow him upstairs.

When they were reaching the first floor, Alfred cleared his throat, a sheepish smile on his face. “Nice story time, you should enlighten me more about this and not those wacky tales of invisible creatures. Let’s get some dinner.”

“They are not tales and they are heavily connected with your own Kingdom’s history. In fact, I believe that man you showed me earlier had something to do with the behaviour of this King, such paranoia can’t be fortuitous.”

Entering the dining hall, Arthur noticed Madeline was already there waiting, the table was arranged and the food was served. Was Alfred looking for him so they could eat together? Arthur’s stomach twisted, reminding him how starved he was. 

Alfred shook his head, patting him on the back. “What are you talking about this time, a ghost?”

The food looked astonishing but his appetite was spoilt, the smell of iron was lingering in his nose. “Perhaps” he replied, frowning at the sight of Alfred, he was giggling.

Noisy laughter echoed in the room, eclipsing Madeline’s greeting. “You are proposing a mighty opponent, Arthur. You can’t punch a ghost, you can’t kill it ‘cause it’s dead and you can’t even see it. How do you get rid of one?”

Arthur grimaced, taking a sip of the wine, Alfred always managed to formulate questions with answers that he could not give. 

* * *

Ivan wandered around the hallways, the silence broken by his footsteps. Every now and then he found himself returning to the same place. 

The trophy hall was tidy, the gray wolf had been covered again, it was an order he gave after his father died, even when he couldn’t bear to see the animal, he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away. What would that knight say if he could choose? Surely he wouldn’t want to be dead but if he were a ghost.. 

Ivan shook his head, he had to get some rest or else those silly thoughts would end up as a nightmare again. 

Light footsteps echoed in the hall, a soft voice greeted him. “Good evening.”

Ivan turned around to see Natalya, she was holding her hands together, her blue dress was impeccable. He sighed, greeting her back. “Hello, Natalya. Do you like hanging around the palace?”

She nodded, approaching slowly, a frown in her face. “It is a beautiful place. How did the celebration go?”

He shrugged. “It was fine, the treaty was signed and Gilbert threatened us, the usual diplomacy."

She lowered her head, knitting her eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound very well, I hope it's nothing serious."

Ivan dismissed with his hand and shook his head, turning to watch the silhouette of the wolf, feeling Natalya's gaze on him, he asked. "Is there something you need?"

She nodded. "Yekaterina, she is looking for a seal, she asked me to retrieve it from you, said that you knew what she was talking about.” 

Ivan pondered on what that could mean, but he hadn't entered the office since their arrival. "I don't understand. She must be confused." 

He frowned, Natalya was still observing him, an awkward silence filled the room and she made no sign as to leave. She had another motive, didn't she?

Clearing his throat, he asked. "What do you like the most about the palace?”

Natalya shifted uncomfortably. “I… I like the gardens, they are colorful and the servants said that there was a peacock around, though, I haven’t seen it.”

Ivan chuckled, pacing around. “It’s a cunning animal. My father brought it from the east but just as the people from there, it does not trust us.”

Natalya observed the fabric covering the mounted animal. Placing her slender fingers on the wolf’s head, her voice betrayed her calm demeanour. “Why did you bring her back?” she huffed.

So, that was what she wanted to say.

Ivan glared at her. “Why did you take the letter? It wasn’t for you.”

She shrugged. “I delivered, Tolys was busy running away with Feliks. I had to read it for her, why did you think it was a good idea to send a letter to an illiterate person?”

Ivan’s eyes widened, he averted his gaze from her. “Well, you know why she’s here, why do you ask then?”

She hummed, lifting the fabric slightly. “Why her?”

He shook his head, taking Natalya’s hand and moving it away from the wolf. “There is not a single magician that would come here after what happened before, they are too scared and she may help me.”

Natalya took a step back, retreating her hand and muttering her question. “Why are you seeking magical power? Don’t you have it already?”

Ivan frowned, the fabric sliding swiftly from the animal, revealing the soft gray fur. “I can't control it as I wish.” The wolf’s blue eyes were staring back at him and he stepped back, his voice quivering slightly. “It can be quite dangerous.” 

“It is foolish to ask that much from her, what if she knows nothing?” Natalya huffed. 

Ivan locked his gaze with Natalya and she fumbled with her hands. “She has to, Natalya or I’ll have to ask help from Alfred’s sister.” 

Looking back at the wolf, his hands trembled, those blue eyes, he couldn’t just throw the animal away, those eyes weren’t a beast's eyes, even after these years those blue orbs were still haunting.

Natalya’s voice changed abruptly, raising her volume. “Why do you ask the help of strangers when you could have relied on me? Am I that abhorrent to you?”

Ivan flinched at the sudden outburst, focusing on Natalya's expresion, her eyes were blue too, aside from the tears threatening to fall, her eyes had a glint of audacity now, strange as she didn’t seem to have enough will to contradict him before, Ivan wondered if he could trust her to be honest for once. “Natalya, do you love me?”

Her eyes widened but her answer came without hesitation. “Yes.”

Ivan grimaced, he was hoping she’d doubt, he approached her slowly. “I don’t think I can return your love the way you expect me to, Natalya, I do love you, just like I love my sister, we are family. You don’t have to submit to my wishes so easily, it makes me uncomfortable and it’s unnerving to deal with falsehood if it comes from you.”

She nodded, embracing him forcefully and sobbing. “I hate you.” her voice was shaky, she inhaled deeply after every sob. “I hate all of you, I try to keep everyone happy but Katya is cruel, my mother wants to get rid of me, my father doesn’t take me seriously and you… you don’t love me. You all should suffer more than I do.”

He waited for her to finish, her words were harsh, deep inside, Ivan was relieved, Natalya’s words were true, she was pouring her thoughts to him without worrying about his opinion.

When her voice stopped, she pushed him away, hiding her face with her hands and turning her back.

They stood for a while in silence, Natalya pacing around the room, she faced him, clearing her throat. “I can look for a mage in the firebird, my father said that the inhabitants were docile and well learned.”

He sighed, giving her a small smile and nodding. “We should go and look for the peacock, it must be hidden.”

She leaned to his side and took a hold of his arm, Ivan watched her wearily but did not push her aside.

“What is that you wish to know?” She asked, lifting an eyebrow. “About magic” she added.

“Anything about fire.”

Natalya chuckled, showing him a small smile. "I like that wolf, you shouldn't hide it, it's magnificent."

Ivan tried to stop himself from frowning while Natalya's grip tightened, perhaps it wasn't a good idea to rely on her.

* * *

The fireplace cracked, the wood inside gleaming with a bright yellow before turning red, Alfred liked to watch the flames consuming the logs, there was nothing better than sitting beside the warmth after a long day, that smell in the basement has left him dizzy. 

He could lay beside the fireplace and rest, the carpet was soft and thick, the dim light emanating from it was an invitation to close his tired eyes, way before his father’s death, he found himself struggling to get a clear view from afar, this led him to abandon the hopes of mastering archery, how could he shoot if he didn’t see the target clearly? 

He sighed, closing his eyes, soft footsteps approached, he didn’t have to see who it was, the steps were familiar, Madeline was always delicate, even when walking, she was an expert at sneaking around without getting caught. 

Her voice broke the silence, “Is the light bothering you again?”

Alfred opened his eyes, her concerned expression was hard to distinguish with the low light, what he could see was the cream color of her dress and the book she was holding. He yawned, pointing at her hands. “What are you reading about this time?”

She sat by his side, showing him the book, the cover was green adorned with golden leafs, Madeline beamed. “It’s a book of spells, there is one that claims to conceal you from dangers.”

He hummed, his eyelids closing again. “Does it have one for my eyes? I could use some eagle vision or something.”

Madeline giggled, placing her hand in his forehead. “I don’t think that’s possible, to perform magic one has to give something, perhaps such a deed would require leaving you blind in the first place, in order for your vision to be changed.” She moved her hand over his closed eyes. “Let’s see.”

Alfred moved away rapidly, widening his eyes at Madeline's mischievous smile, he whined. “What? I don’t want to be blind!”

She laughed, reaching to touch him again. “I promise I’ll give you the eyes of an eagle, they could be yellow too.”

Alfred jerked away, laughing nervously. “No way, I like them blue, stay away.”

Madeline retreated her hands, “You have some correspondence” opening the book, she showed him several envelopes and a folded paper. "I have written a letter for Yekaterina,” she added.

Alfred raised an eyebrow, eyeing the letters, trying to read with no avail. “Ugh, I can’t read this late, what do they say?"

“I didn't open your letters, though, there is one from Ivan, what do you think he wants? I thought they'd be colder towards us." 

He squinted his eyes, extending his hand to receive it, the blue seal was untouched. "No idea, I'll read it tomorrow. Why are you writing to Yekaterina?”

Madeline frowned, her gaze lowering to the folded paper. "Their father died, we have to send them condolences perhaps that's why he wrote to you.”

“We don’t really have to reply, they didn’t send anything to us before” He sat up, and clicked his tongue, waving the letter in his hand. “Wait, they did, they sent us a horrible treaty with the threat of more confrontation unless we accepted.”

Madeline frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It is the right thing to do, besides Yekaterina is lovely and I want to keep contact with her. I just want you to sign it.” 

Alfred glanced at the fireplace, he could throw the letter into the fire easily, a small chuckle escaped him. “Are you sure you wrote that letter to her?”

She retreated her hand, her voice serious. “What does that mean?”

He rolled his eyes, “Oh please, you spent most of our time with Gilbert, Ludwig or Ivan. Why would you write to Yekaterina if you were pleasantly talking with her brother the whole time?”

Madeline smiled, closing the book and standing. “I can write to him if that’s what you want. He sure makes some good and interesting questions, give me the letter and I will reply to it too.”

Alfred shook his head, why was she annoying him? “No, I do not want you to do that!”

She pursed her lips, dusting her dress. “You don’t like me talking to other people, I see.”

Alfred stood up, looking at the book in her hands. “To other guys whom I barely know anything about, No.” 

She sighed, smiling again. “Do not worry. I wrote for Yekaterina and I didn’t mention how much you like her.”

Alfred gasped, shaking his head vigorously. “I don’t.”

Madeline laughed, pointing at the letter in his hand. “You said she was beautiful and it’s fine, think about how useful it would be if you married her, I’m sure his brother wouldn’t dare to declare a war on her or the other way around, you can’t attack your brother in law. Perhaps that's why he is writing, I'm sure he noticed how you were doting over his sister.”

“I said that she was beautiful because she is, that doesn’t mean I like her!”

She rolled her eyes, handing him the paper. “Whatever you say, just sign.”

Alfred frowned, taking the paper, he gaped at his sister's handwriting, it was so neat and elegant, unlike his. “No.” he paused, “You wrote the letter, is your doing, I will send one tomorrow but this is your work and I won’t take credit for it, let her read both letters and see how bad my writing is.”

Madeline giggled “Fine, I was going to save you from the embarrassment but have it your way.”  
  
Alfred smiled as she walked away, he turned to the fireplace, the flames were dying alongside the light they provided, Alfred saw himself alone in the room, he traced the blue seal with his finger, opening the letter, squinting his eyes, some of the letters gained a bit of clarity, the words uprising, secrecy, aid, were registered by his brain, a cold feeling settled in his spine, he shivered folding the letter and ran behind his sister, calling out to her. “Wait Madie, you can’t leave me alone.” 

When she halted her steps to look back at him, Alfred was relieved, the wrenched feeling in his gut disappearing slowly while a headache grew noticeable. 

She observed him quietly, a soft smile graced her face. “Quick or the ghost will catch you.”


	13. Nighttime

The envelope was folded neatly, Katya observed the beautiful seal it had, the golden tones of the wax, carefully pressed into the peculiar form of a sun. 

The symbol had always seemed magnificent, she thought it was an adequate metaphor, the west was an overwhelming sight, they had the best weather of the three Kingdoms which made the vast territory apt for plantations not only of vegetables but of sweet delicious fruits or at least, that’s what she had read in the books. 

Opening the letter, she relinquished in the neat handwriting, her eyes traveled throughout the curves and lines that conformed each word, it was comforting to have a letter addressed to her, a small assurance of her existence in comparison with the piled letters to her brother.   
She sighed, this ordeal was almost over, they’d disclosed her father’s death a few weeks ago, though the inhabitants of the city seemed to be astonished, everybody suspected it, Katya preferred to tell the truth (or at least a bit of it) before people started whispering about it, his absence at the signing was indicative enough. 

The brevity of the letter was unexpected but the thoughtfulness of Madeline made up for that, the girl was trying to comfort Katya, lamenting that now both of them had lost their fathers.

This made Yekaterina smile bitterly, her lip quivered, how had Katya wished for his father to die quickly, she had prayed for it, instead, she had to see him succumb into delusion and when he seemed considerably better and she left his side, he died. Just like that, she no longer had a father and she wasn’t even there to sooth him. Perhaps Madeline was right in comparing their experiences, her words seemed honest, enveloping her with warmth.

A warmth that she missed, Katya feared that Ivan was falling ill too, it was difficult to tell as he didn’t talk that much with her, whenever she tried to engage in conversation he’d be distracted or asleep, could it be that replying to correspondence was too much work for him? 

She shook her head, it wasn’t a big deal, he was just being lazy, the office was a mess and missing the seal was just a way to delay his duties, she had managed even more troubles than him, Ivan didn’t have to take care of foreign relations while they were at war..

Katya tapped her fingers on the desk, the candlelight flickered, darkness surrounding her for mere seconds, telling her that it was beyond late for her to be reading. 

Scooping the ink closer, she prepared a paper, writing out a small reply, she could leave it to dry but Katya found herself aching to write more, to spill some of her thoughts in the letter, to propose an exchange of friendly correspondence to Madelaine, to ask Arthur for advice, she had already thought about doing the same with Gilbert but his dominant personality kept her from doing so, that and well, it would be frown upon if she started to write to them, she didn't want a misunderstanding. 

A single, black drop fell from the quill, staining the paper, Katya frowned, her hand trembled slightly as she wrote a last inquiring line, followed by her shaky signature. 

She stood from the chair, taking the candle with her, averting her gaze from the table, a shudder went through her body, perhaps it was better to burn that letter, to consult her brother about it.   
She sighed, peering into the hallway she greeted the guard, closing the door behind her and going down the stairs. The moonlight provided her some light, a wave of uneasiness overtook her, she turned back to find herself alone in the entrance, though she felt observed, she quickened her pace, reaching the garden, faintly distinguishing her brother's voice.

What was he doing?

Yekaterina stepped back, hiding behind the fountain, she hoped the moonlight wasn’t enough to reveal her presence, curiosity was nagging at her, to observe what was happening, she was glued on the spot.

The sounds, the voices were clear now, they were laughing. She held her breath as her brother walked by, followed by a maid and a little boy. He was holding a map, showing it to them. Katya observed in awe as he talked about the constellations with an enthusiasm she hadn’t seen before in him. 

Once they were out of her sight, she sighed, relief washing over her, pursing her lips Katya stepped back carefully, silently returning to the palace.   
A part of her felt slightly offended, why was Ivan keeping secrets from her? She surely had a lot of questions now, though, asking him would only make him distrust her more, perhaps this was the reason why he argued against the marriage with Natalya, if Katya could decide, she would not oblige him but they had a debt to pay. 

When she passed the office, the sight of the closed door made her pause, peering inside she was met with the candlelight and the same mess she had left. 

The chilly air that embraced her made her shake, her eyes darted to the open window and she approached it, a soft light was visible between the trees of the forest, Katya squinted her eyes, no longer seeing anyone in the gardens. 

The dim blue light grew stronger, taking a strong white color before dying out. The trees rumbled loudly, her eyes widened as a cold wind blew her candle, depriving her from light. In the darkness, she could only recognize the tall trees' outlines.

She closed the window, her foot touching a small object on the floor, rolling her eyes, she picked it up, perhaps the seal had fallen without her or Ivan noticing, all this time it had been there. 

A sudden urge overtook her and she rapidly lit the candle, preparing the blue wax, taking the already dry letter and putting it into a small envelope, she quickly sealed it, not pausing to admire the process. 

She retrieved the seal without much care and placed it on the drawer, securing it with a key, her eyes traveling to the letter. Katya shook her head, closing the door and returning quietly. 

A heavy weight settled on her chest, closing the door of her chamber, she hoped for the softness of the covers to be enough to lull her into sleep, her thoughts swirling between the white light she saw in the forest and the letter she left on the desk.

* * *

Ivan glanced at the small silver clock, comparing it to the one that sat on his table, the artifact would randomly point from number to number without sense but at night, it seemed to remember its task and mark the time correctly. Ten o'clock.

He pocketed it, grabbing a light coat and the star chart that Ludwig had gifted them, a good excuse for him to go out this late.

Once in the hallway, he saw Tolys chatting with the guard next to the office, Ivan frowned, why was he here? If the guard was there, it meant that Katya was still inside.

Ivan greeted them as he darted to the stairs, the brunette following him. 

After taking the corridor to the kitchen, Tolys chuckled. “Your highness, if you wanted something to eat you could have told me.”

“You are too kind Tolys, but I want to pick it myself.” Ivan replied, showing him the chart. "I have something to do, your assistance is not necessary."

Tolys nodded but kept walking by his side, they stopped in the hallway, Ivan could feel the warmth from the kitchen, inside he could hear small laughter. He turned to Tolys, patting him on the back. “It’s late, you should rest.”

“But-”

Ivan frowned, crossing his arms. “Tolys, I asked you to deliver a letter and you didn’t, you dismissed my order and went away with Feliks, and now, are you questioning me?”

Tolys paled, lowering his head. “No, sir.”

“Then, leave.”  
  
He nodded, walking away, taking rapid steps. Ivan watched him closely until he was out of reach, he’d have to interrogate him later about his whereabouts.

As Ivan entered, he saw Chun Yan handing a cup to a young child, he recognized him from before, referring to her as a sister, he stared in disbelief as she wiggled her fingers above the cup, muttering a silly tune.   
The child drank the beverage with ease, she kissed his forehead, she turned, noticing Ivan’s stare, she fidgeted with her hands. “He’s my brother.”

Ivan nodded, addressing the boy. “What is your name?”  
  
The boy hid behind her, observing him intently, squinting his eyes and pointing at him before addressing Chun Yan. “What is that?”

She let out a nervous laugh, patting the boy in the head. “Do not point, I’ve told you that is mean.” She looked up, smiling sheepishly. “His name is Kiku.”

The boy gave hesitant steps before taking the star chart from Ivan’s hand. “I was pointing at this.” Opening the paper, Kiku’s eyes traveled through the constellations illustrated on it. He huffed, returning it to Ivan. “I thought it was a map.”

Chun Yan gasped as Ivan laughed, showing the star chart at the boy again. “It is a map but it’s for locating stars. I can tell you how to use it”

The boy’s eyes widened, he turned to Chun Yan, tugging at her skirt lightly. “Can we go out to look at the stars?” 

She nodded, an unsure glance crossing her face as the boy ushered them to go out rapidly. 

Kiku carried on making questions about the sky and how it was possible to make a map out of it. Ivan found himself infected with the boy’s enthusiasm, answering his questions until they reached the small forest.   
Before stepping in, he saw as Chun Yan and Kiku bowed slightly, muttering something that Ivan could not understand. 

At night, the place seemed grim, Ivan had to walk carefully to not trip or step on the plants and bushes as he did the first night, the last few days he had been practicing with her, though the first exercises she had asked him to do were simple, he found it different to what his father had taught him, less focused on attacks or defenses and more keen to transforming objects. 

He wondered how many times they had walked around here in the dark, their steps were swift and confident, unlike his. 

The last days Ivan hadn’t commented on her antics but curiosity got the best of him. “Why do you do that? the bow...”

She glanced at him, disbelief coating her words. “I ask for permission, a forest is always a respectable place if one must disturb it with magic, the least one can do is ask for permission or offer a sort of gift to it.”

“What gift are you providing?”  
  
Kiku let out a soft laugh, asserting. "A poem.”

Ivan stared at her, arching an eyebrow.

Chun Yan shook her head and huffed. “Don’t look at me like that, he is telling the truth. The trees have ears and eyes, a poem is a noble gift just like the singing of the birds.” She sighed and resumed her steps. 

Kiku broke the silence again. "Why do you have a map of the stars?"

Ivan shrugged. "It's a star chart, useful for navigation and astronomy." He glanced at her before adding. "Astronomy is like… uh… It's for looking at the stars."

"I understand, my father likes to trace maps, he is very talented."

Ivan hummed. "In that case, I'd like to talk with him."

Kiku glanced at him, pausing his steps. "My father was taken by the king and he hasn’t returned. Do you know where he is?"

Ivan grimaced, glancing away. He opened the sky map, finding one of the constellations and showing it to Kiku, the boy kept walking with the map over his head, following Chun Yan silently again, the crunching of leaves under their feet was the only audible sound.

There were still so many things he didn't know, about his father, about his own palace, was it right to say that he lived here when he was so clueless? 

She broke the silence, her voice hushed but audible “Kiku is not feeling very well these days, so I give him some medicine but he doesn’t drink it unless I make a “potion” with it.”

“A potion?” Ivan echoed, the shift of topic seemed adequate to him.

She chuckled. “It’s not a real potion, it’s just a medicine made of boiled herbs, though it may count as a potion, I’m not sure” 

Ivan hummed, he remembered his mother drinking similar beverages but she never complained about the taste.

They stopped at the pond, Ivan had suggested the place as it was not that far from the palace but it wasn’t close enough to be noticeable, he also liked the small colourful fishes that his father had brought there, perhaps the only wish he had granted him as a child.   
  
Chun Yan took off her shawl draping it over the boy. “Kiku, sit here and tell me when you find the dragon.” the boy nodded, lifting the sky map.   
She glanced at the pond for a moment, kneeling, facing the water. “This one is not easy, so, you have to pay attention.”

Ivan nodded, mimicking her position, sitting beside her and giving her an unsure glance. “if you are going to splash my face with the water, I swear that I'll have you beheaded”

“When I asked you to take a handful of dirt it had a purpose too, besides figuring out if your highness would dare to dirty his hands, it is a basic introductory task.” She laughed, “look”

She dipped her hand in the water, shuddering, tracing a slight bluish light with her fingers. At this, some of the fishes circled around her hand, swirling slowly, she moved her hand closer to one, gently touching it with her palm, the blue light dispersed enclosing the fish, tracing it until the animal whirled away, leaving a traced copy of it that moved mirroring the fish, she retrieved her hand slowly, and the copy dissipated into the water.

She beamed. “That is an illusion, it is easier to perform in water as it is already a kind of mirror but it’s tricky because neither the water nor the fish will stay still.” She shivered and swayed her hand, “Also, it’s very cold.”

“The water?”

She nodded. “Do you remember how it felt like to grasp onto the soil? Think about it, it should help you catalyze the energy. Give me your hand, I’ll help you.”

Ivan complied, the water was indeed cold but it wasn’t too bad, he chuckled. “Are you telling me that whenever you use your magic, you think about dirt? How disappointing.”

She frowned,“I wouldn’t have to use such an example if I could speak in my native language, I am way more brilliant when I don’t have to translate and the number of words is wider.”

“All that knowledge and still, you can’t read.” Ivan teased, glancing at their hands, the bluish light was barely visible, he frowned.

“I spend the whole day in the kitchen. Reading is the least of my worries, besides I speak two languages.” 

Ivan shuddered at the sound of the silvery voice whispering. “Be careful with what you say.”

He paused, glancing around, the ghostly figure wasn't around, he looked back at her, she lowered her eyes muttering a soft "I'm sorry."

Kiku’s voice took him out of his thoughts. “I found it! look, it is by the north! These names are so weird, there is one called horo… horologium. What does that mean?”

“Look for the hunter.” She said, dipping her hand on the water again. 

Ivan sighed, pursuing his lips, trying to focus on his task. 

Kiku’s voice was heard again. “Lupus is a wolf, right? the ghost says it is a wolf.”

Ivan turned around quickly, his voice faltering. “What ghost?”

She hushed the boy, shaking her head. “Kiku, I’ve told you there are no ghosts here.”

The boy pointed at them. “There is one right there!”

An Iron grip encircled Ivan’s wrist and he flinched, a cold wind passed but he wasn't cold all over, only his hand was cold. The pale hand grasping his wrist tightened it's hold, Ivan whimpered, meeting that familiar icy blue glare of his nightmares before the ghostly figure passed through him.

He watched in horror as the bluish hand merged into his own. A surge of pain hit him, like thousand needles piercing his bones, he tried to retrieve his hand but it moved on it's own, instead of following his command, his hand clasped Chun Yan's wrist, she gasped, whimpering at the hold.

A soft warmth feeling was enveloping his hand, soothing the pain until it became a dull tickle, Ivan watched as the same bluish light that mirrored the fish was doing the same with their hands.

Blinking rapidly, he found himself glancing at the reflection, the view was certainly strange, two right arms belonging to either him and Chun Yan, plus another one that had bluish tones, it quickly moved to grasp onto her wrist, making her whail, the illusion shattered making Ivan dizzy.

Taking a hold of the icy hand, Ivan snatched it from her, pulling her back as the coldness on the water increased, he tightened his hold while a dim blue light encircled the icy hand, becoming a bright white.

A grunt escaped from the silvery voice as the white light formed a small flame around the icy hand. 

Struggling on his hold, the ghostly figure moved away. “"Oh, this maiden has powerful magic.” Facing him, the figure showed pearly whites with a devious grin. “but this trick won't work twice." It said, submerging itself on the water, a cold wind passed through, making the nearest trees grumble loudly.

Ivan held his breath, fearing that if he moved an inch the searing pain would return. Though the ghost was gone, the pond was solid ice, the fishes stood still, frozen in place. 

He glanced back at Chun Yan, she was holding her hand, frowning. He observed her quietly, her face wasn’t contorting in a grimace of pain or anger, she was clasping her wrist, 

She looked back at Kiku, rushing to him. "Did something happen to you?”

The boy shook his head, taking her hand, turning to look at Ivan. “He says that you killed the wolf, is that why it is on the sky now?”

Ivan widened his eyes."You see it too?" As soon as those words left his mouth, he felt a searing coldness on his shoulders.

She stood up, dusting her dress and knitting her eyebrows. "What kind of deal have you done?"

Ivan stood up too, shaking his head. "None." 

Chun Yan shook her head, frowning slightly. “That thing is absorbing magical energy." She said, rubbing her hands together. "I hope the fishes start moving again once you manage to defrost them.”

Ivan glanced at the pond and back to her. "I can't. I don't know how to-"

She shrugged and started to walk away, taking Kiku’s hand. “Figure it yourself, I am done with this today.” 

Ivan frowned, his hand trembled as he moved it closer to the pond. Think about something warm, what could possibly go wrong? He shook his head and knocked on the cold surface, completely solid, it was strange, the water was solid ice but it didn't feel cold.  
  
Ivan approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder but she snatched his hand and stepped back. 

"Do not touch me." she said, moving the boy behind her. “You are hiding something. I will not go through this if you don't tell me what it is.”

He sighed, fidgeting with his hands. "I don't know what happened, it follows me around and I can't do anything about it."

Chun Yan observed him, distrust coating her words. "Spirits don't wander around without a reason."

Ivan shifted under her gaze. “I asked your help because-” he paused, looking at the boy and back at her, lowering his voice. “I’ve killed when I used my magic...” he paused, she seemed unfazed, he lowered his head, fidgeting with his hands. “I killed a… wolf when I set him on fire” he sighed, avoiding her gaze. 

So much time without uttering the tortuous happening to anyone and he would disclose it to her? perhaps it was better, who would believe her if she decided to tell? He took a breath, approaching her closely, whispering. “I killed the king of the west in the same way.” he trailed off. The hushed confession was supposed to make him feel better, but it didn’t. 

She gasped, stepping back, a worried glance directed to the boy. “Kiku, did you find the hunter?”

The boy shook his head, walking hesitantly away, looking back at them every now and then.

She fidgeted with her dress, giving him an unsure glance her voice hushed. “That sounds like a curse.” 

Ivan understood the implications of what he had said, she was right in being scared, who wouldn’t? Still, he found himself approaching her. “I didn’t mean to do that, please, don’t think I did it on purpose.” 

She pursued her lips, offering her hand with hesitation, Ivan observed for a moment before taking her trembling hand, it was cold.

She didn’t retreat from his touch, her voice was soft. “Why do you say you didn’t mean it?”  
  
Ivan pondered for a bit, merely tightening his hold. “The wolf was a knight, he was kind to me, he didn’t deserve it, I didn’t know that he would die like that, I was a child I couldn’t know.” His voice faltered, he clasped his hands around her own, her right hand was ice cold. “The King of the west, I don’t know, it wasn’t on purpose I barely pushed him aside and… and he was engulfed in flames…they both screamed horridly and every night I see them on my dreams while they melt and rot away, blaming me for such a painful death, but I didn't mean to do that, I wouldn't...”

She gave him a pitiful glance, softening her tone. “The knight, did you touch him too?”

Ivan glanced up at her, a chill ran down his very bones as he saw that godforsaken ghost looming behind her, smiling sharply at him, the man shook his head slowly, placing a bluish hand to his lips. 

Ivan pressed her hand slightly harder, not daring to face those icy eyes again, muttering. “I shot him with an arrow, it… it was supposed to be a joke.” he paused, waiting for the silvery voice to reprend him. 

He looked up, the ghost had vanished, a sigh of relief escaped him. “I am really sorry.”

She smiled nervously, retrieving her hand and stretching her fingers. “See? you could warm my hand, now do the same with the pond.” She patted him on the back, leading him to the frozen water. “Regret is a first step to fix some of your mistakes, though I wouldn’t recommend to lean on that.”

“What does that mean?”

She kneeled, placing her hands on the cold surface, motioning for him to do the same. “I believe you, you can’t possibly be a cruel person if you are so tormented by those deaths. Internal struggles show through one’s magic, why didn’t you mention it to anyone?”

Ivan observed the inmobile fishes. “Katya would think I am going mad.”

“What about your father?”

Ivan frowned, placing his hand on the ice, not meeting her gaze.

Kiku peered over, passing his hand through the solid water, whispering. “Is it true? That the king knows how to freeze someone’s heart?”

“Kiku, don’t repeat such things.” She scolded, knitting her eyebrows “and don’t touch the ice, you’ll get sick.” 

Ivan avoided their gaze, he hated to admit that the boy was right, he had seen that himself, it was the reason he dreaded his lessons, he still remembered some of those hopeless faces. 

“When our father returns I want to come back to our home, this place is too cold, I don’t like it. You say it is always sunny in the east. I like that, I want to be where the sun rises every day” Kiku retreated his hands, yawning, Ivan could hear him folding the star chart.

Chun Yan smiled sadly, turning her attention towards Ivan. “Close your eyes and try to focus on the ice and what you want it to do. Or if it helps focus on a fish, try to help it move.”  
  
Ivan nodded, the surface grew colder, the clearness of the pond was replaced with a layer of hoarfrost.

Chun Yan stood up, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Your mother was kind, she used to hang around in the kitchen. My father put a spell there because she complained about being cold.” 

He looked up at her. “Is that why the kitchen is always insufferably warm?”

She nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not too bad once you get accustomed to it.”

Ivan was about to retort but the layer of ice gave away, sinking his hands on the water. 

Chun Yan laughed as he took out his damp hands from the pond, the fishes swirling slowly again. Ivan allowed himself to laugh too. “Can we refrain from using water for a practice?”

She helped him up, shaking her head. “Water is essential, it cleanses, soothes, destroys and ravages, just like magic itself, nature is the best ally to a magician. Even your father must have been aware of that, ice is water after all.”

Ivan hummed, frowning slightly. “What about fire?”

She approached Kiku, draping the shawl on him again, securing it with a knot, the boy was lowering his eyelids slowly, she shook his shoulder lightly. “Fire is difficult to describe, it is just as the water, though I'd dare say fire it’s light itself, it depends on a lot of things. Being natural elements it is part of them to be both vital and fatal.” She frowned, directing an apologetic gaze at Ivan. “I’m sorry but I have to take Kiku home, I can’t stay longer.”

Ivan nodded. “You stay in the servants' households, right?”

She snorted. “Nobody stays there,” 

"Why?"

Chun Yan handed him the sky map and picked up the boy, Kiku rested his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes, she smiled tightly. “Good night, your highness.” 

Ivan stood for a while, watching her leave, fire is light itself? What was that supposed to mean?   
He shook his head, returning to the palace, before entering, he glanced back at the starry night.   
Opening the map, he tried to find the wolf, perhaps he could deceive himself, thinking that the knight was better off observing everything from above.


	14. Punishment

Arthur was shuffling through the pages of the old diaries, the contents weren’t anything unusual, the first ones were mostly observations about the eastern kingdom’s vast plantations and their natural resources. It made him wonder how such a description was completely inaccurate nowadays, the weather was harsher, colder, making it hard for their inner agriculture to feed their population.

The only aspect of it that made Arthur uneasy was the fixation Ivan’s grandfather seemed to have with a fortress, the firebird was burnt during his reign and everytime he wrote about it, his words were spiteful and nonsensical as if the building itself had wronged him. 

After that, the penmanship became messy, unintelligible, squinting his eyes, Arthur sighed, skimming to the page where the man, no, the ghostly figure had been drawn, there where a few words about a forest, about a ritual, but Arthur couldn’t make sense of it. He was sure it was the same face he saw on the ball, clinging to Ivan, was he even aware of it? He didn’t seem bothered, though the figure was talking to him back then, perhaps he could hear it.

A headache began to hammer Arthur’s head, What ritual? What clock? He closed the book and huffed. What was there to hate about a burning building? Perhaps it was a matter of what or who was inside when it caught fire. He shook his head, conspiring about something he didn’t know was futile. 

He glanced at the piled correspondence, frowning at the sight of Alfred’s name on them, the kid wasn’t replying to them, even though he had spent yesterday enclosed in here, what was he doing then? 

He reached for the ones on the base, Arthur doubted that Alfred would get mad if he helped him a little. Besides, it would be mean to delay those older letters with all the wait while delivering them. 

A glint of blue caught his eye, that was the eastern seal, Arthur had to fight the urge to reach for it, the letter was already opened, it was certainly improper to read it as it was addressed to Alfred especifically.

Arthur’s hand hovered above the letters but curiosity got the best of him, taking the opened letter quickly, his eyes traveled down the penmanship, with every word his hold on the letter grew tighter. 

When he was finished, he wandered through the other letters, finding one without a seal, without a receptor and opened. This was probably what he was looking for, the brevity, the ambiguity of the words was confusing, what kind of aid had Alfred provided to whoever sent this letter?

A soft knock on the door startled him, Arthur folded the letter and pocketed it. 

Madeline entered, dragging her brother by the arm and closing the door behind them. She showed them a letter. 

Arthur frowned at the sight of the blue snowflake on the seal, his eyes traveled to Alfred who was nodding and smiling softly, as if the kid hadn’t done anything, how was he capable of such hypocrisy? 

Madeline’s cheerful voice took him out of his thoughts, Arthur tried to grasp on the words she was delivering. “These are good news! Yekaterina wants to initiate an exchange of scholars, she says it will help strengthen the ties between our kingdoms and that it might provide insight into each other's cultures, she also wants to keep contact with me through letters. I think we can be really good friends, if this is successful, we could arrange a visit to their palace and-”

“That's certainly good." Arthur interrupted her, glaring at Alfred. "Did you know that the eastern kingdom’s soil used to be as fertile as our land?” 

He shifted under his gaze before regaining his usual confidence. “What does it have to do with what she told you?”

“Do you know why their land is so arid and colder now?”

Alfred frowned. “How would I possibly know? If you want to ignore my sister, I don’t want to be part of it.” He turned to acknowledge her, softening his gaze. “Maddie, I think that is an incredible announcement and that you should take the decisions regarding that exchange, you have my support and approval.”

Arthur placed a hand on his shoulder. “War, Alfred. That’s how you ruin a perfectly rich and healthy land. That’s how you leave everyone more miserable than before and that’s how you lose your crown and your...your power..” He trailed off, the realization left him speechless, it was so obvious yet he refused to believe it.

Alfred let out a snicker. “Are you threatening me? Why are you always picking arguments with me? I haven’t done anything to upset you and look what you are doing.”

“I am warning you, what is this scheme? Who are you contacting and what aid have you provided?" Arthur shoved the letter to Alfred tiredly, his eyes widened, betraying his smugness. "Your sister is working hard to maintain diplomacy and you are plotting behind our backs and destroying everything we achieve.” 

“Are you reading my correspondence?”

“That’s all you have to say in your defense? That I harmed your privacy? There won’t be privacy for you if you want to drag the whole kingdom into disaster.”

“They wronged us! My father is dead because of them and you want me to act as if nothing happened! We lost territories, men and even the people demanded a fair retaliation, but you wouldn’t know because you are a stranger to us, to this land and to this family. You are not my father, not my brother and certainly not my king.” Not waiting for a response, Alfred stormed out of the room, closing the door with a thud.

Arthur sighed, sitting back heavily, resting his head on the desk. Power, all of this was about power. 

A hand patted his shoulder and he looked up. Madelaine´s guarded expression filled him with guilt, he lowered his voice. “You can answer Yekaterina as you wish, I know you are sensible and bright. You will take the best choice. I’m sorry for not paying much attention.”

She spared him a small smile. “I can give you the details if you want. She also asked if you knew of a good tutor for her brother.”

His eyes traveled through the stocked up papers, the diaries and the consumed candle, all that search had blinded him from the real threat, luckily, Arthur also knew how to play this chess game. 

Glancing back at Madeleine, he nodded slowly. “You should talk to her about Francis, I will get in contact with him for the time being. He could pay us a visit.”

* * *

  
The palace hallways were bathed with sunlight, silence filling the spacious building. It would have been easy to believe that everyone was sleeping but Tolys knew better, most of the palace’s workers were up at 4 am, the guards were even earlier on their shift’s change. 

It was on rare occasions that he could wander around in the not so empty hallways, today was indeed a rare occasion, it was the day Ivan had been born, so the prince was allowed to start his day as he pleased. Tolys would have spent his day outside but Ivan’s plan was to sleep more.

Tolys feet were light without the burden of a task and his mind clear without the presences that worried him. It was in those moments, that he could daydream about how his life would have been as a prince, when he could take in the architecture’s details and delight with the artworks that hung around. 

That is until he lay his eyes on a painting, the family portrait that Katya cherished so much. The painter was certainly talented, Yekaterina’s soft features were a childish attempt in mimicking her father’s serious expression, the queen was holding the prince in place, even on the painting, Ivan seemed to distance himself as much as he could from his father, using the queen as a shield from him. The details on the deceased queen’s dress were astonishing, Tolys always wondered how this woman could bear living with such a husband.

He didn’t like to make assumptions, but his few encounters with him were terrifying to say the least. The servants avoided him, the generals and soldiers feared him, the only one bold (or foolish) enough to contradict him was Ivan, and yet, he was afraid. 

Tolys would never say it outloud, but the servants whispered about the King’s habit of picking random maids or knights, requesting them at night, only for them to not be seen or known about again. The uncertainty of the situation made the workers wary of staying in the palace. Tolys was lucky that Yekaterina pitied him enough to provide him a room, else he’d be waking up earlier in order to walk from the town to the palace.

What made Tolys uncomfortable wasn’t the family potrait, it was the painting next to it. There were a lot of mistakes in the painting. Firstly, the man on the portrait carried a soft expression, almost smiling, when in reality everyone remembered this man frowning.

The crown placed on his head shined with a silver glint, but as he observed, he could not find the other silver glint that should have been there, another mistake. Tolys had ever seen a portrait of their grandfather where he did not have the crown on his head and the clock in his hand, the clock that Yekaterina's father always carried and the same clock he had seen Ivan playing with. 

Lastly, the portrait itself seemed like the worst thing to have in the palace because the queen was depicted there, seeing Ivan’s grandmother there wasn’t a mistake, but it felt wrong since the town’s people believed this king turned insane as he had been eaten away by guilt, observing this painting should have been a torture for him. 

He walked away from the paintings, heading to the right wing, where the siblings had their chambers, greeting the guards and taking a seat on the small chair placed on the hallway. 

He couldn’t help but think that Yekaterina was certainly similar in looks to her grandmother now, maybe that’s why her father seemed to favour her over Ivan. Everytime she spoke about her father, there was fondness on her voice, affection on her words while her brother seemed relieved with his death.

Tolys shifted uncomfortably, he had been waiting for about an hour in the small seat, looking at the door, waiting for Ivan to come out with no avail. 

His gaze wandered to the end of the hallway, another closed door where Yekaterina was supposed to emerge kept itself sealed, she was probably accustomed to her brother’s laziness this day.   
He sighed, even when most of the servants, guards and workers on the palace had an established schedule, Tolys found himself dependent on the royal siblings to initiate his day. 

He couldn’t deliver the letters if Yekaterina didn’t request it, he could not wander around the palace without greeting Ivan first, he couldn’t possibly wake them up if they didn’t wish for it, he couldn’t ask them either if they didn’t exit their rooms. For all he could know, they could have been killed last night and no one in the palace would find out in fear of upsetting them. 

He straightened his posture, a small smile gracing his face as he remembered there was only one person who could bother the siblings without consequences. 

With swift steps, he walked to the dinning hall, the large table looking grim with the empty seats, the dishes were placed neatly but no food had been served. 

Next to the head of the table, Nataya sat, her face impassive, her hands on her lap. Her blue eyes piercing Tolys as they always did before fixing on somewhere else. 

Tolys always admired the way she carried herself, if he were bolder, he’d admit that Natalya is indeed more beautiful than Yekaterina, even on her choice of clothing, she seemed to stand out more than the actual princess of the palace, not to say that Natalya wasn’t one but her father was not a king, so she would be in a similar position as him, a lower princess at best. 

“Lady Natalya,” Tolys bowed slightly, approaching the table. “They seem to be still asleep.”

“Serve my breakfast then or else, I tell them you left me to starve.” She huffed, her posture relaxed, she gripped a fork with her hand and observed it boredly. 

Tolys nodded, signalling the maids to come forth and attend her. As her meal was served, he smiled nervously, “I was thinking that you could request their presence.”

She focused on her meal, making Tolys wonder if she really was hungry, how long had she been waiting? How long would have taken her to prepare herself and look this way only to be unseen and eat alone?  
  
If she was on a haste to satiate her hunger, she didn’t show it. After a couple of bites, she dismissed the maids. Setting down her fork, she stood up. “That’s your mistake, you are a mere servant, you should not be thinking at all.”

Tolys held his urge to frown, following her steps. “Yekaterina would appreciate you showing a little bit of concern, Lady Natalya.”

Her pace slowed down as they reached the stairs, her blue dress shuffled on the steps but she made no move to lift her skirt, taking small steps. “You address her by name and keep on calling me lady, at least be coherent with your insolence.”

“Apologies, Lady Natalya. Yekaterina has requested me to not refer to her with a title. She said it was impractical” The brunette held his hands together, even when Natalya was hard to deal with, she was fairly easy to convince. 

After all, she was heading right into the hallway that led to the chamber. Realization hit Tolys in the face as his heartbeat hammered on his chest. 

He quickened his pace, trying to block Natalya’s way. “Lady Natalya, you already passed Yekaterina’s room.”

A devious smile grew on her face, she moved him out of the way quite harshly, simply stating. “I know.”

Tolys grimaced, Planting himself between the door and her. He was sure that Ivan would get mad at him if he let Natalya enter his room like that. 

“I told you it’s not your job to think. Get out of the way. There is no one more fit to wake him up if he hasn’t already. I’ll be the first to greet him.” She huffed, reaching for the door’s handles and pushing the door slightly.

Her hands retreated quickly as another voice cut through. “Natalya, I think it’s quite improper to bother my brother, he might not be presentable yet.”

Yekaterina was at her door, her eyebrows knit together as she approached, Natalya seemed to shrink on herself the closer she got. “I want to see him.” she muttered, toying with the fabric of her skirt. 

“You will. Later. I shouldn’t be telling you that sneaking into my brother’s bedroom is inappropriate. I thought your parents had taught you better. Today, we do as he says.” 

Natalya crossed her arms. “I’m not sneaking in, Tolys asked me to check because none of you showed up to the meal, I had to eat alone. Now, I try to be helpful and you scold me for something that wasn’t my idea. If you are berating my manners, you should give a good example then, and punish him instead of me.”

Yekaterina turned her gaze on him, Tolys kept silent, he didn’t know if facing Yekaterina’s rage would be better than facing Natalya’s.

The door opened and Tolys let out a deep breath, the two ladies seemed to falter and held their remarks. He was quick to greet Ivan, who lethargically nodded. “Tolys, just whom I wanted to see, come, I need to talk with you.” 

Tolys followed him swiftly down the hallway. “Is there something wrong, your highness?” 

“Not really, but you seemed like you wanted to run away, you can thank me later, though I don’t blame you, those two are quite difficult.”

Tolys couldn’t help but chuckle, he cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his amusement as he noticed Yekaterina behind them. “Breakfast is ready, do you wish for something in particular?”

“No, I’m fine, the poor girl in the kitchen must be more tired than I.” He paused, glancing at Tolys before shaking his head. “On a better thought, I want varenye.”

Tolys paused, observing the prince slightly as he took a seat, Ivan kept placing himself by the right side of the head of the table, he wondered how long would it take him to finally take the King’s place. 

At this pace, it seemed more likely for Natalya or Yekaterina to take it, the thought made him chuckle again. Owning him a confused glance from the prince and a frown from Katya. 

Tolys fidgeted with his hands before shaking his head and muttering. “Congratulations, your highness. I hope this year brings you happiness and health.”

Yekaterina’s head yerked abruptly. “I wanted to be the first.” she let out a small laughter before reaching out to her brother, shuffling his hair. “I requested that cake you like so much.”

"That 's good." Ivan toyed around with the napkin, humming. “Tolys, are you close with Feliks? I don’t remember giving you permission to go anywhere with him.”

Tolys eyes widened, stumbling over his thoughts to find a convincing answer. “I… I only escorted him outside of the town.”

Ivan's expression didn't change, he only tapped the table with his fingers, it took all of Tolys' will to maintain his gaze, to not look down until Yekaterina beamed. "Bring the varenye and some wine."

"Am I allowed to have wine now?"

"Only today." She chuckled, ushering Tolys to walk away.

Ivan caught Tolys arm before he could leave, offering a small smile. “Tell Chun Yan that I called for her.”

As he went to the kitchen rapidly, mentally slapping himself, his hands shook. Why was he asking that? why did he give him good wishes? it wasn’t his place to do so. The prince was probably disappointed that he had to wait another year to finally take on the throne. 

Why would he care for a servant’s words on his birthday? Ivan had everything he wanted and Tolys words were void of any meaning. 

Glancing at the dark circles under the eyes of the kitchen maid when he requested the varenye, Tolys frowned. “The prince is asking for you.”

“But I haven’t finished my work, I can’t-” she whined, washing her hands. “It can’t take too long, right?” 

Tolys nodded slowly, helping her with the wine. Feliks was right, neither Ivan nor Yekaterina cared for anyone but themselves. 

What activities was Ivan requesting from this poor girl at night? Tolys had no idea and he was sure he didn’t want to know, but her slow movements, her pale face and her small steps, gave away her tiredness, if she kept up like this she was sure to get sick.

* * *

Natalya took a deep breath before entering the dining hall. She made sure to arrange her dress, so it would trail beautifully behind her. She squinted her eyes, light reflecting on the glass of the door, she cursed, why couldn’t they place a stained glass? It wouldn’t blind her. 

No, Yekaterina had to change everything in the palace, making it colourful and heavy. Natalya huffed, it was a matter of time until Katya lost her remaining power here. One year more, she reminded herself. One year more, on this day, Ivan would be crowned, and then, she could have her wedding and change the palace’s colors or return to the cold ones.

From now on, Ivan would have to start courting her. He had no excuses now, she could request more visits, even better, he would be visiting her, not her father, not her mother, she would be his reason to visit the fortress.

She smiled, pushing the door open and greeting him. 

“Magnificent!”

Natalya faltered at the compliment, her eyes lowering and her face heating up. “Thank you.” she muttered, taking a seat across from him. 

He looked at her dumbfounded, a smile forming on his face. “Uhh, yeah, you look nice Natalya.” He handed her a fork. “But this cake is an otherworldly experience, try it.”

She took the fork begrudgingly, gazing at the cake disinterestedly, it was a simple cake, nothing elegant and nothing unique on it. 

Yekaterina was shaking her brother's arm. "Think about it, we get to know more about their kingdoms and we can use their ideas to develop our weak sciences."

Ivan shrugged, standing from his seat. "Fine, but I will revise the candidates and pick their place of destiny."

"That's too much work for you. Let me do it. I'll make sure everything is arranged. I'd be absent in order to check the conditions of our scholars and their wellbeing but not for long."

He shook his head, patting her on the shoulder. "I'm starting to think that it is you the one who wants to abandon the palace with that exchange."

Yekaterina’s expression betrayed her, Natalya could see the frown she tried to cover with a smile. "Some fresh air would be nice but I would never think of abandoning you."

"We'll see." was all that Ivan said, pacing around and motioning with his hand so Natalya was served. 

Instead of reaching for a bite as he said, Natalya’s eyes strayed to Tolys standing on the back and then, the girl serving the cake. Her pale hands shook as Natalya held her gaze, glaring and receiving the plate. 

To her surprise, Ivan acknowledged the maid. “Don’t be scared, Natalya is not as mean as she looks.”

Natalya, pursued her lips. “She should not be serving if she doesn’t have a steady hand.”

“You are right.”

Delighted at the confirmation of her words from Ivan, Natalya allowed herself to smile, but it soon turned into a frown as she saw him placing the girl where he had been sitting, and sliced a piece of the cake for her. 

She couldn’t hide her astonishment, and judging for the silence, neither Katya nor Tolys could either.

As he sat on the head of the table, unfazed by the situation, he asked. “How is Kiku doing? I supposed he has to take some time to acostume and focus on the classes.”

The girl merely nodded, taking an unsure glance that Natalya was quick to meet with a glare.“He’s learning fast, said he was excited to read me a book.” she muttered. 

Yekaterina coughed, her voice soft but Natalya caught the stiffness on her posture. “What is the meaning of this?”

Ivan laughed nervously. “Right. This is my sister Yekaterina, you probably know her, she is the one that requests the cinnamon rolls, she loves them.” He turned to Katya. “She prepares the pastries we request, so those cakes, cookies and sweets that you like so much, are her doing. She's my friend.” He paused, as if pondering on his words, sparing a glance at Natalya. “I expect you to treat her well.”

Yekaterina nodded, reaching out her hand to the girl. “Nice to meet you. You can call me Katya, what shall I call you?”

“Chun Yan.”

At this, Natalya’s mind clicked, this was the girl that received the letter, it had been almost five months since that, why hadn't Ivan grown bored of her? She clenched her hands, forcing herself to smile, greeting her quickly.  
  
A smirk crossed Natalya’s face, she took the fork dipping it on the cake, taking a hold of a good portion, placing his other hand on Ivan’s jaw so he would face her. “Eat.” she stated, but he made no move. 

Until he started chuckling, Natalya’s face grew hot as his laughter increased, she retreated her hand and took the bite of cake, sulking on her seat. It was indeed delicious. 

After a while he calmed down. “That was totally uncalled for.”

“I’m sorry” She lowered her gaze, fidgeting with her fork.

“It’s fine,” He sighed. “It’s just, my mother used to do that when I refused to eat something. I swear it was the same.”

Natalya smiled softly, her bad mood vanishing now that she had his attention, she made sure to take his hand. “I have been thinking about the future. How long do you think it will be until you are crowned?”

“I don’t know.” 

“How can you not know? It’s your birthright to be the next king, aren’t you eager for the crowning ceremony?”

“Natalya, I just want to eat this cake peacefully.” He sighed, retreating his hand.

She leaned forward but his hand was out of her reach. “Don’t be silly, the event is so beautiful, you get to look at all those people bowing at you, reaffirming their loyalty to you and the best part, you get to wear the crown!”

Yekaterina dismissed with her hand. “it’s not a big deal, father used to say that the crown was uncomfortable and impractical, you have to slow down your steps a bit so it stays on gracefully, otherwise you’ll look like an idiot.”

Natalya frowned, “Ivan will never look like an idiot.” She huffed, turning her gaze to the servant girl. “Do you think I’d look silly with a crown?”

She shook her head quickly. “I don’t think so.”

“What about you, Tolys?”

“Lady Natalya, a crown will certainly fit you if you were to use one.”

Smiling to herself, Natalya turned to Ivan again. “So, you’ll give me one, right?” 

“A crown?”

“Yes, I will be the queen and all queens have a crown.”

Ivan did not answer, instead it was Katya who approached her with a pitiful glance. “Natalya… Your mother didn’t tell you that we do not give a crown to the queen. My-” she paused, giving Natalya a small smile. “Our grandfather decided against it after his wife’s execution.”

“Why should I pay for their mistakes?” Natalya turned to Ivan. “You will be the king and I'm sure you could give me a crown if you wanted to.”

“I don’t know.” He looked away, taking the glass of wine, he turned to the servant girl. “Do you think-” 

“Would you at least escort me to the firebird?” Natalya interrupted. Her voice was harsher than she meant it to be. 

He paused, taking a sip of the wine instead of answering. 

“You are planning on sending me alone?”

“Of course not, Tolys will go with you.”

Natalya stood up, crossing her arms, the chair scraping the floor with a screeching sound. “But I don’t want to go with him. I don’t like him, he is too close with Feliks. If you prefer the company of maids, I should inform my father of it, I don’t wish to bear with-”

Katya’s voice cut her ranting. “You will be escorted but not by my brother. I took that decision already and you have no say on it.” She stood up, glaring at her. “Behave, today we let Ivan rest from his duties, don’t bother him.” Yekaterina’s face was flushed, making Natalya uneasy, she stood still until Yekaterina left the room. 

She looked down, taking a seat again. “Before I leave, I want to take a walk in the gardens with you.” she said quietly. 

Ivan sighed. “That, I can do.” He finished his glass, smiling at her. “Though, wouldn’t you like to visit the town?”

Natalya nodded swiftly, watching him stand up,he seemed unaffected by her words. “Tolys, prepare a carriage.”

She raised from her chair, glad that she had taken extra time to pick a nice dress. Her smile quivered as Ivan approached the silent girl on the table, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, you are coming with us.”  
  
Natalya took a deep breath, walking behind them in the hallway. Ivan was probably reprimanding her for her outburst and she had willingly agreed to bear with the punishment. This day was going to be a nightmare for her.


End file.
